A Shadow Of Myself
by GirlOfMyOwnWorld
Summary: Jax Phillips is honestly no ordinary rookie soldier. Ever since his discovery of immense strength and quick recovery no matter the circumstances of his wounds, Overwatch had recruited him shortly after their recall, and he's been training under the various soldiers that had returned so far. (continued summary inside!)
1. Summary

Jax Phillips is honestly no ordinary rookie soldier. Ever since his discovery of immense strength and quick recovery no matter the circumstances of his wounds, Overwatch had recruited him shortly after their recall, and he's been training under the various soldiers that had returned so far. Battles commence while Jax is in training, until Winston gets information of a house in Louisiana that is presumably haunted. 49 people, men, women, and children, have disappeared and their tracks all lead to this humble home of the Jeanson family. Lena Oxton, aka 'Tracer,' brought along her cousin who bears similar traits, and her name is Raine Oxton. She is the one sent on the mission because she has had more training than Jax. After her disappearance (along with the murder of two men that had accompanied her), the last person they find perfect to be able to carry out this lone mission is Jax. Jax had grown close to Raine when she was around, and he had become devastated when they lost all contact with her. Will he make it out of this haunted humble home and save Raine (and the other 49 people) in the process, or will he die trying to kill the monstrosity inside?

* * *

Rated T for horror, blood, and gore. No 'nasty' scenes. Just blood and gore.

This is actually a crossover with Resident Evil 7... except some things are a little different that what is actually in the RE7 game. The title is inspired by the song that J.T. Machinima made for the RE7 game.

Enjoy!


	2. Chapter One

**AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

 **GREAT TO MEETCHYALL I AM GOMMIE AND WELCOME TO "A SHADOW OF MYSELFFFF!"**

 **Okay, right off the bat, this is more of an Overwatch-RE7 crossover, so if you aren't really a fan of horror games and stuff… I suggest you either leave or just proceed with caution. S'all.**

 **Also, to my MCSM readers.. I decided on something a little different- that, and I published this here because I want one of my good friends to be able to read this! (I'm looking at ya, Doof! :) )**

 **Also, there is some romance going on, but only between my two OCs. Everything else is pretty much canon- I may make a few minor changes for it all to work with the storyline I have prepared, so...**

 **I'll usually have author notes before and after each chapter- there's also a QOTC, which is gonna be fun!**

 **Anyways, since I don't have much else to say…**

 **Here y'all go and enjoy the show!**

* * *

It was a pretty warm summer day to take a walk around the city. There was a lot of people out and about, most of them chatting with friends or walking their dogs. Well, it was unusual for it to be this cool in California- it was usually so hot and dry. Families also took that advantage to go to the park for a picnic or to play around, while other people decided to head to the museum and the courtyard outside.

One of those people was blond-haired, green-eyed, Jax Phillips.

Jax checked his phone every once in a while, watching out for the text from his mother that called him home to watch after his brothers and sisters while she was out at her first job. Jax sighs. He wished he could get a job, but he kept getting fired and he didn't know why, so he stopped trying and started helping with whatever he could.

He dodged a few kids running up and down the street, calling out a "Be careful!" to them as he continued walking. Jax stopped when a sign caught his attention- "Free to roam the courtyard and take a selfie with the statue of former Strike Commander Jack Morrison from Overwatch!" Jax began to recall the memory of Overwatch and what they were like when they were first around. They were heroes during the Omnic Crisis, until the United Nations thought they weren't doing good enough and shut them down, making all Overwatch activity illegal. Not only that, but someone (people always assumed it to be a force in the growing or the UN themselves) blew up their base in Switzerland. Jax smiled. He remembered looking up to Jack Morrison and hoping to be a soldier when he was older, but now that he knew the risks of war… he had family to take care off. His father had died of cancer a few years back, and he still missed him, each and every day. Kaleb Phillips died a little too early- he was 68 and he stood tall with his job as Chief of the LAPD. Since Los Angeles brought too many memories wherever the family went, Jax's mother, Jesse Phillips, decided to move the whole family to San Diego. The move took most of their money, and it was taking some time for them to catch up.

Seeing Jack Morrison's tall, ginormous statue towering above the 24 year old still brought back some memories. Jack Morrison reminded Jax greatly of his father- the blond hair, the blue eyes, everything. It was only their position that was different. Jax couldn't help but to smile. His father may never be a great soldier like his childhood hero, but he was still his hero above Jack Morrison, no matter the case. Jack Morrison was only a role model. Jax glanced back down at the sign and entered into the courtyard. He did have to pay some respect for dead Strike Commander, and he had to thank him. If it weren't for Jack Morrison, Jax couldn't've made it out of the Great Battle of Pittsburgh alive.

* * *

" _Mom! Dad! Where'd you go?!" a small, blond child screamed in the midst of the running crowd. His calls were only drowned out by the screams and yells of the people clambering about to reunite with their families and-_

 _BOOM_

 _The whole place rumbled, debris slowly falling from the ceiling. Jax's eyes widened as he watched a stroller get crushed. Luckily, there wasn't a baby inside- he saw the mother carrying a crying baby girl while running away from the stroller. Jax managed to tear his eyes away from the scene, but he couldn't quite find his parents or his older sisters. The five of them (seven if you count his mother's unborn twins) were all separated, and Jax was sure that his sisters and parents are all okay and just trying to find him._

 _Suddenly, Jax heard another blast. More debris fell and so did some statues in the University Of Pittsburgh courtyard. They were all just outside of the Cathedral Of Learning, the lawyer's place, as his parents told him._

 _BOOM_

" _Everyone, we have to hide!" An older man shouted. He was homeless, by the looks of it, and around the corner, walking turret omnics began to shoot down those either driving their cars or roaming the streets. There was so much blood, Jax couldn't move. Suddenly, the homeless man jumped in front of Jax. "Kid, you have to run and hi-" his commands were suddenly cut off by a bullet going through his head. His face went blank- there was the tip of the bullet poking from his forehead, and Jax went absolutely still, allowing the now-dead man to fall on him. Out of the corners of his eye, Jax spotted the omnics now advancing. His mind and heart was telling him to move, to get the hell out, but his legs felt like lead and try to lift this man would take too much of his energy, so he did the last thing he could do- stay put and hope to God that the omnics' scanners wouldn't find him under the other man._

 _It was silent. The omnics had finished off everyone else in the area, and one said,_

" _Initiate scan of area." As they got closer and closer, Jax had to close his eyes- the moment was too much, and he knew he was going to die anyways._

 _Gunfire rang out in the silence, and Jax clenched his eyes shut, hoping that none of the bullets hit him. Instead of the disturbing sound of a human body going_ thump _against the ground as the blond boy had heard so many times already, there was the sound of crashing. Jax brought on the courage to open his eyes, only to find the omnics on the ground, their once-bright red lights now faded into nothingness as the wires sparked and spritzed in the bullet holes that now penetrated their entire body._

" _Look for any survivors and bring them back here for Mercy to heal. Gather everyone onto the streets, the omnics won't be coming back for a while." a bold voice spoke. Jax immediately slid out from underneath the body, his blond hair stained a bright red from the man's bloodflow and he took off in a sprint, dodging past the peoples' blue-armored legs._

" _Daddy!" he exclaimed, latching himself onto the leg of the man that had spoke before. Jax felt his father attempt to pull away, but he held tight._

 _Jack, meanwhile, looked to Reinhardt for help. The burly man only laughed heartily._

" _This is all on you, Jack. You did say you were going to eventually settle down and have a family, eh? 'Bout time you got some hands-on training."_

" _But he-" Jack glanced down at the fearful child, clinging to him like a magnet to the refrigerator._

" _Reinhardt, we need your help lifting some debris here!" A more feminine voice called from where she was near a large pillar. The larger man walked off, leaving Jack and little Jax be._

 _Jack just stood there for a moment, before looking down at the kiddo. The Strike Commander then knelt down to his height, clipping his rifle to his back as he brought his full attention to the child for the time being._

" _Hey, kid- I'm not your dad." He began, straight-forward. This got Jax to pull away. Jack unlatched the child's arms from around him, pulling him away to get a good look at him. "Look, I'll help you find your father." The older blond then glanced around. He saw his friend standing off to the side, just not helping. "Hey, Reyes!" The Mexican's head snapped up, his eyes narrowed in a glare at first, but then softening at the sight of the child standing in front of the Strike Commander. "Get over here, I need your help with something." He walked over._

" _Needed something, mi amigo?" Jax looked up at the tall man that now stood beside him._

" _Can ya help me find his dad? They must've been separated during the attack."_

" _Commander! There's more coming in!" A soldier exclaimed, running down the streets. He turned around for one moment to shoot some down before Jack stood up._

" _Soldiers, take formation Mars!" Jack shouted to his soldiers, before pulling the kid behind him. "Help me protect him, Reyes." Jack said, taking his rifle from his back. The thunderous stomping of the oncoming omnics came from all around them._

 _They were all surrounded._

" _You got it, Commander." Gabriel pulled out his own pulse rifle, turning his back to Jax, who was now only protected by the legs of the taller men. Tears streaked down the child's face as he looked among the bodies._

 _Suddenly, he was lying on the ground, a pulsing pain in his side. He felt his green t-shirt become a dark red with the blood flowing from his wound. Jax felt his eyelids get heavy, hearing gunshots and Jack's shouting. Something like 'REYES, COVER ME!'_

 _Then all was black._

* * *

A few hours after that moment, Jax was taken into the museum where everyone else hid, where his parents and sisters were, and Mercy got to work in healing him. Jack and Gabriel stuck around to be there when he woke up (Jax's father was too busy calming his sobbing mother to be there) and they helped fill him in. Looking back at the moment now, Jax blushed. He seriously thought that the great Strike Commander Jack Morrison was his own father. Ha.

Anyways- Jack and Gabriel did end up leaving shortly after the moment, and although Jax would most definitely remember Overwatch's great deeds for what they did and how hard they worked to save his life. (While Mercy was working to get the bullet out and heal Jax, Ana and some other supports tended to other people who were just merely wounded, no gunshot wounds though. Those who had gunshots were already asleep and healed, thanks to Mercy's quick work.) He didn't quite believe with all his heart that they would recognize him at first sight, but he was sure that they would remember him when he recalled the memory for them.

Suddenly, there was a thunderous boom. Jax's heart began thumping in his chest- that boom didn't come from just any normal person walking by. It could only be created by an explosion or something abnormally large.

In other words, it could be an attack.

There was a second boom. People started fleeing the courtyard that Jax was walking through. A bushel caught fire near him, and the third one was when people started screaming. Jax was in the zone. He had promised himself that he would not hesitate to help anyone in need, and he always did that, but it was only helping clean something up on the streets or a volunteer service of some sort. This was that chance.

Black dropships and other jets lowered them underneath the clouds. That was when Jax noticed the large statue of Jack Morrison beginning to fall. It was kinda slow at first, but gravity eventually took its part.

Okay, that got Jax. His hero's statue was just a statue- it was a tribute to all that Jack did for him, for the world. There was no way in _hell_ that that statue was getting destroyed, even though he knew full well it was going to be destroyed anyways.

Jax ran as fast as his legs would carry him. There was a mother, scooping her child up in her arms and trying to make her escape but there was one problem… she wore high heels. So she wasn't as fast as she should be to be able to escape the -

"Watch out!" Jax shouted. His sudden call made her look up and trip, and her child screamed as she saw the statue falling down faster as it advanced to it's doom.

The mother clenched her eyes shut, waiting for her and her child to get crushed to smithereens by Jack Morrison's handsome face, but that impact never came. She opened one eye, then the other, looking around. She saw a man in front of her, holding the statue high. His legs weren't shaking and he wasn't even panting from having to catch the statue.

"How?" was all the mother could ask.

"Just get out of here! I can't hold him up forever!" Jax shouted down at the mother. Even though she was so close to him, she couldn't hear him before gunfire now rang down upon them. "No, wait, change of plans, stay under here!" Jax shouted. He saw some wounded civilians. Jax sighs. "I can't believe I'm doing this." The blond began to move the statue upwards, so now… Jax was basically holding Jack Morrison by his sweet booty. Hey, that was how he had to balance out the weight. "Okay, take off your shoes, ma'm!" Jax called to the woman as the bullets stopped plummeting to the ground. The woman stood up, taking off her heels as Jax had told her to, and opened her bag, sticking her child inside. She put the backpack back on, and that's when she stood. "I want you to help get anyone out of hiding and the wounded. We are going to take as many as we can under this statue, and then you all will head into the museum. Until help arrives."

"What about you?!" The woman asks, her child still whimpering.

"I'll hold them off- they're definitely gonna fire at the museum, so I'll keep them distract. After all, I am the one trying to keep you all alive, so they'll take me out first before taking you all down. Now let's go!" Jax barked. He slowly put one foot in front of the other, testing his strength. He didn't even know he was _this_ strong since… well, since his father died. His father said that he and Ja both possessed a special talent of inhuman strength- a power very special and to be handled with genuine care. Just now had Jax found its limits… there was none.

"Gather up, gather up!" The woman called out as the statue protected them. Jax saw some idiots filming the whole thing, but he ignored them. He focused on getting people to safety. That was the number one priority. Getting these people to safety inside the museum.

More and more gathered underneath the statue. There was enough for everyone to be able to stay under, even though some people had to carry some of the wounded. Suddenly, there was an explosion on top of the statue.

Jax had to bend his knees a little to keep it upright. "Okay, everyone, listen up!" he began. All eyes turned to him as everyone strained their heads to listen. "I'm going to throw this statue at the ships- you guys make a run for it. We aren't very far from the entrance-"

"What about the wounded?"

"Carry them! The strongest of you, carry the wounded!" People began to shuffle around, trying not to get caught under the gunfire if they so much as poked a toe around the edge. Jax watched as most of the men and some women began to pick up children and the wounded. "Keep running until you get to the museum, and do _not_ stop! You all hear me?"

"We got you!" The mother exclaimed, making sure her child was secure in her bag still.

"On your marks!" Jax turned around, holding the statue in place. "Get set…" he lowered it a little bit for some spring. "GO GO GO!" The statue flew through the air. It's base made contact with a black dropship, destroying it completely before landing on the concrete a little aways from Jax himself. Jax managed to dodge the bullets, getting to cover. He spotted a bench nearby, and lifted it from the ground, it's roots ripping themselves free of the soil that kept them down. The blond hero risked a glance at the people. Some were, sadly, shot dead, but he saw someone poke their head out and give him a thumbs-up, signaling most of them made it out.

The Battle of Overwatch had just begun. And Jack Morrison protected his people for the last time.

* * *

It was back and forth. The bullets would have to force Jax into hiding, but he would eventually come back out with park benches and plants and other objects to try to get the battlejets to leave. It was just as the police and military arrived that the enemies decided to retreat. Jax turned around to find the men all advancing at him instead.

"Guys, no, wait-"

"I thought any Overwatch activity was illegal." stated the chief gruffly, glaring at Jax.

"Wha- I'm not-!"

"Yeah yeah, and I'm not Madonna." added the female that had somehow magically appeared behind him. She cuffed his wrists together, but suddenly, the mother that Jax had saved earlier, plus her child, both ran out onto the scene.

"No, don't arrest him! He's saved our lives! Why would you arrest a hero?!" The child exclaimed, tears welling in his eyes. His innocence and naivety, his pureness from evil shattered at the sight of his hero being arrested.

"He's too young to even have been in Overwatch!" The mother exclaimed.

"Li- Lieutenant Valerie!" The chief stammered, the woman glaring daggers into his skull. "I-I didn't know you were already on this-"

"He saved my son's life and mine, plus the lives of so much more. Besides, there's no way he'd have been in Overwatch. He looks about twenty- Overwatch disbanded seven years ago. Meaning he was just a young preteen at the time. Get your facts before you start assuming who's in Overwatch and who isn't, because most of them are not mercenaries. Do you hear me, Sheriff."

"Ye-"

" _Do you hear me!"_

"Ma'm, yes, ma'm!" The sheriff nodded vehemently, and the female officer behind Jax took off the cuffs at the signal from her sheriff.

"Thank you so much, uh… Lieutenant? Right?"

"Yes, but I think you deserve the title of Hero- a title much greater than mine."

"Honestly, ma'm, I didn't know I had this super strength until just now. Just let me go home, please?"

"Of course. And please, if we do ever meet again, call me Val."

Jax looked behind the Lieutenant to find the civilians either being rolled out of the museum on stretchers or walking out, completely fine. Most of them went to Jax to thank him.

After all, he was their hero that day… like Jack Morrison was his.

* * *

 **Ahh, the feels near the end….**

 **Welp. I'm kinda tired. I'm gonna give a QOTC, then I'll do some review replies in the next chapter, so watch out, friends!**

 **Also, most of the chapters won't be quite as long as this one- so I'm sorry about that! :( But don't worry, they'll still be long!**

 **QOTC: Which Overwatch character do you main?**

 **I main either Hanzo (because damn he sexy as hell) or D. Va (because I just kinda relate to her a lot). But I'll play most anyone. Except Zarya. I just can't play her for some reason….**

 **Thank you all so much for reading, I hope we have fun within this story, and I will see YOU, in the next chapter….**

 **CIAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!**


	3. Chapter Two

**AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH GREAT TO MEETCHYALL I AM GOMMIE AND WELCOME BACK TO "A SHADOW OF MYSELFFFFFFF!"**

 **Okay, so in the previous chapter, it was Jax VS. TALON in the Battle Of Overwatch. Technically Jax and Jack if you include the statue. He also gained a few friends and realized some things, but he also had to make some hard choices- with him going up against a terrorist group and** _ **winning,**_ **said terrorist group is most definitely going to try to go after him and eliminate him. Before they get any information on who he is, exactly, Jax must find a way to keep his family safe.**

 **Also, I just wanted to say that the chapters may be weekly-biweekly until exams comes in April. I'm busy with softball and school and the want to play Overwatch so much that I may not update it two times a week like I do with other stories.**

 **Summertime's gonna be different, though, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.**

 **Here y'all go and enjoy the show!**

-/

 _Jax panted as he ran, dodging the bullets that only soared through the air around him._

" _We're gonna get you!" one of the guys driving the car exclaimed before laughing like the maniac he is._

" _Yeah, we're gonna get you!"_

" _Shut up Carl! Keep shooting the asshole!" Bang bang!_

" _Okay!"_

 _Jax felt a bullet graze his arm, just above the elbow, and he hissed, pulling his jacket sleeve over the wound to cover it._

 _-/_

 _The blond haired man eventually eluded the two from TALON._

" _And to think they had more with them." Jax groaned a little, holding his arm. He looked up at his current home, and released a breath. That was the 19th time he had to elude TALON. In just a few months since that battle._

 _His mother knows what's happening with her son- he had told her head on right after the Battle Of Overwatch happened._

 _Just as she was cleaning and healing his wound, she sat down._

" _Jax… we have to go." she said at last. It looked like the hardest thing for her to say- that part Jax didn't quite understand._

" _Go? Go where?" Jax raised an eyebrow, testing out his arm._

" _No, no, honey, you're.. You're not coming." Jesse sighs, covering her face with her hands. "I'm going to take the other kids to Sweden with me. We won't have to worry about TALON trying to kill us there." Now that Jax started thinking about it… it seemed like the best idea. If TALON couldn't catch Jax, they'll definitely find his family as leverage to lure himself in. The only downside of that plan is that, well… after they eliminate Jax as they were planning to, they would just kill the rest of his family as well. TALON gave no mercy. None._

" _They'll find you eventually." Jax protested._

" _And so will they to you." After this statement, Jax sighs, giving in to the idea._

" _We'll both keep on the move. You all go different places every few months, I'll keep moving daily."_

" _Well, where do you plan on going? You can't stay in San Diego forever."_

" _I'll probably head through Mexico. Maybe I'll go to Dorado." Jax stood up. "We better get packing. Only the necessities. Sell everything else for the money to get to Sweden." he told his mother, looking down at her. "Put some money in my bank account, I'll take them when I get to. Your friend, Olivia, she still works at the bank, right? Give the money to her, and tell her to give it to me when I come by." Jesse looked down at the ground, before rising and hugging her son close to her._

" _This is the hardest thing to do.. To let your son or daughter go. Your older sisters haven't gone off yet, but that doesn't mean they will never go." Jax was a little taken aback. Sure, his mother was always one to show her affection to her children, but at a time like this… Jax hugged his mother back, holding her close to him._

" _Try to keep the whole family together, but if you have to end up splitting up, then split up." Jax told her, shortly before he pulled away to get the children ready to go. Before his father's death, and after the twins that his mother was pregnant, they had three more little rascals. All girls. So that made five kids for his mother to take care of. Technically, 3- his older sisters were old enough to watch over a child. They could easily split three ways, a child with an adult._

" _Go tell the children to get ready, and help them too. I'll be sure to get some money in to Olivia for you. If you manage to elude them long enough to defeat them… come visit Uncle Felix's."_

" _The restaurant?"_

" _The restaurant." His mother winked, before going to get the furniture ready to sell._

-/

Jax remembered that memory. It was just about as clear as day, like as it was when it had happened. He had gotten the money from Olivia and began making his way down to Dorado… on foot and on bike. He was lucky his father had kept his bike from when he was a child, or Jax wouldn't make as much progress.

Well, that, and his super-strength was an exception.

Jax didn't quite like calling his super-strength, 'super-strength,' but that was the best name he had for that talent right about now, until he came up with a better one.

Anyways, his super-strength made him go much faster. At night, he would lock the bike and sleep outside. Even though it was always sunny and hot in Mexico, it became very cold at night. Then in the morning, at the first glimpse of the sun, he would find a place to eat breakfast before going on his way. He's only run into TALON here and there, but they kinda just let him go as he began getting into southern Mexico- _that_ was territory of the Los Muertos gang that was growing, and worked with TALON. Basically a Mexican version of TALON. Sorry if that seemed a bit racist.

So now, he had to look out for Los Muertos. Maybe he'll take up a job or something that called for the capturing of these guys… he could use the money to get on well.

It took him another few days to get to his destination- Dorado, Mexico.

Jax found a small pathway that led to the cliff which looked over the ocean. He couldn't help but grin at the thought of his father being here with him. He had always wanted to do this type of traveling- bike-riding from home to someplace far away- but he never got the chance. His life ended a little early. He then spotted a Polaroid camera left outside, just sitting on the windowsill of a cozy little home. Jax bit his lip in thought. He then quickly grabbed it, making sure no one was standing around. It was pretty late, so no one was anyways. He got a good view, with the street behind him. He put up a thumbs-up and a smile, and the camera flashed. He then took the small piece of paper that printed, quickly placing the camera back where he found it, and made his escape, sticking the photo into his backpack. Jax really hoped the owners of that camera didn't mind him taking a pic to show to his father when he visited his grave.

He then heard some commotion in a bakery nearby.

"Huh?" Jax wondered, raising an eyebrow. He overheard a mother and her daughter arguing over something.

"I'm not a baby anymore, mama, stop treating me like one!" A small girl, about 14 or 15 Jax couldn't tell for sure, walked out of the bakery nearby. She was definitely Latina, her dark hair synced into two braids and wearing a few shades of green in her outfit.

"Listen to me, mija. Get the flour quickly and get back. No stops!" Jax heard from the inside of the bakery. He assumed it was the little girl's mother.

"Fine." The girl groaned, before doing a little strangling motion with a grunt, but then letting it go with a sigh as she turned around and headed to the store where she was to retrieve the flour her mother had requested her to get. Jax followed the little girl, but stopped around the corner as she stopped to look up at a poster of Overwatch. The poster looked like it was wearing out, but it was still in good condition from being in the shade its whole life. Jax saw the little girl sigh, and pursed his lips, before she moved on to the store. On the way, though, she seemed to be wincing and truly trying to avoid something going on on the other side of the street.

"Ey ey ey, Ale, where you goin', girl?" a man's voice suddenly caught her, and the girl, Ale, winced at the harshness of it.

"No- nowhere?" Jax flinched at the stuttering and the questioning tone at her answer to the man's question. This wouldn't end well, and he knew it. The owner of the voice that was speaking to her before strode up to her, laughing.

"Nowhere is right. Come here, you gotta see this!" he slung his arm around her as if they have been friends forever and proceeded to practically drag her over to where there was some commotion going on. "Here, here, look at this thing." Jax continued on, managing to sneak around to hide behind one of the booths. He watched the man give the girl a metal-donned wooden bat and pointed down to the omnic that he was beating to smithereens before, joined by a few friends of his. "Give him what he deserves."

"I-I don't know. I've gotta go." Ale began stammering again, which made the first one laugh. In the light from the new angle that Jax was in, he saw the outlines of a skull and some other tattoos on his head and arms, along with more of the same kind on the arms, legs, and head of his two buddies.

"Los Muertos." Jax whispered, eyes widening. This little girl had known these people? How long has this been going on?

The first man stopped laughing, before forcefully shoving the girl towards the beaten omnic.

"Come on, do it!" he shouted. Then, in a lower voice, like one you would use to speak to a child, "It's just a bucket of bolts." At that, Ale dropped the bat, turning to look at the three.

"I have to go to the store before it closes or my mama's gonna kill me!" she exclaimed, which only made the situation worse- one of the thugs decided to take her blue money bag.

"Gonna be hard without any money, niña." he taunted, waving the bag in the air, then proceeded to play a small game of monkey in the middle with his buddies, Ale being the monkey. She tried in vain to get her money to pay for the flour, even shouting a 'Come on, give it back, I need it!' but that was ignored as a truck pulled up.

"Come on, let's go let's go!" the driver exclaimed to his buddies, motioning furiously. Jax hid around the back of the booth, hoping none of them saw him. When he heard the truck leave, the girl shouted,

"Hey, where are you going? My money!" She then let out a small scream before going to chase the truck. Jax looked around the corner to find the girl gone and the omnic struggling to move. Quickly, his footsteps as silent as the night, he made his way over to the omnic.

"Are you okay, sir?" Jax asks in a whisper, looking around at the damage that the Los Muertos thugs had done.

"N-no… you're not gonna hurt me, are you?"

"No, not at all. Look, I'm going to go make sure that girl doesn't get herself killed, then I'll come back and help you. Okay?" Jax asks, scooping up the robot and carrying him to some bushes. "Stay out of sight for now- I'll come and help you when I know that the girl is home okay."

"Thank you… thank you…" Jax sent the omnic a small smile before getting up and going to follow the girl. He tried to trace her steps the best he could, and he was met by a large wall. The blond climbed over, only to have to dive out of the way of gunfire. There was a full-fledged battle going on in the alleyway Jax had landed in. Lifting the small girl and tossing her over the wall, he told her to 'Stay put.' and that 'I'll get your money.' before going to join the battle.

"You don't get off that easy!" someone else shouted. There was another man in the battle, the only one fighting against the gang of 6, 7, or 8, Jax couldn't tell. With a grunt, he lifted a dumpster and hurled it at the truck, making the thugs have to scatter before the truck itself was destroyed. The other man, the one that wore a letterman jacket with the number 76 on the back, he looked back at Jax in slight shock before pain struck his abdomen and he fell, dropping his pulse rifle at his side while his hands covered the wound in an attempt to prevent the blood from going so fast. At the sight of his partner in the battle wounded, Jax groaned. He easily dragged the man out of the line of fire.

"Permission to use your gun?"

"What?" the man asks, looking at Jax with what was probably a confused expression underneath that mask.

"Permission to use your gun?" Jax repeated, peeking outside the wall real quick.

"Kick their fucking asses for me." Jax did a little double-take at how familiar this voice sounded, but he nodded nonetheless and prepared to get out there and take down the rest of the thugs. He didn't forget about the money in the process.

As he rolled out to get the gun, he took the money from the thug that had stolen it from the little girl. Jax shot and missed, but he managed to get them to start running off.

"Eat this!" a thug shouted, pressing a button on something small and tossing it right at the alleyway where 76 was lying. Jax's eyes widened and, completely forgetting about the thugs, went after the man and scooped him up, quickly using some of the boxes and the side of one of the buildings to get over the wall. He gently dropped 76 on the ground, crouching over while pulling the girl under his cover as well. The grenade went off, blasting the wall to bits, but Jax was as solid as stone and kept his position. Some of the wood from the blast only merely hit his back, but it did not harm him too much. When he knew the thugs were all gone, he pulled away from the girl and the 76 guy. Everyone kinda realized that a man who had the choice to not help them, helped them anyways… the girl was the first to say something.

"You… you saved me… both of you… why?" Jax glanced at 76's wound.

"Old habits die hard, I guess." the 76 guy grunted, struggling to stand. Jax held out the blue money bag and dropped it into the girl's lap.

"Look, it's best if you run on home and quickly, now. It's not safe out here, and I have two people to help out."

"Who's the second?" the girl asks, standing up.

"That omnic those guys tried to make you beat."

"I can help you with this man!" The girl exclaimed. "Or rather, my mother can. She's always been stitchin' wounds since I was a baby."

"Uh-"

"No. We'll be fine."

"But I don't-"

" _We'll be fine."_ The older man grunted. "Just get home, don't worry about us."

"I'll meet you at the omnic with some bandages and supplies. Please, let me help, it's the only way I can repay you!" Before the older man could tell her not to, Jax nodded.

"Please get those bandages and supplies. I'll meet you at the omnic." Jax nodded, helping the soldier to lean against a wall. "Right now, I gotta get this blood to not flow as much." He began to take out his extra clothes, first padding the socks and placing it over the wound, along with the two extra t-shirts and tying it all down with the jeans he has.

"How'd you manage to lift that dumpster?" 76 asks, looking at Jax as he worked.

"Super strength."

"Same thing used to guard us against that wall?"

"Yep."

"How'd you manage to get that strong? You look pretty young."

"Born with it. Never figured it out until months ago." Jax looked up at the man. "What should I call you?"

"What?"

"I'm probably gonna be sticking with you for a while, make sure your wound gets healed."

"No."

"I am, whether you like it or not, dumbass."

"Don't call me that."

"Well, you never game me a proper name, so I'm calling you dumbass until I get one."

"Call me 76."

" _Proper_ name, dumbass."

"Stop calling me that. I'm not giving you a proper name."

"Then too bad, I'm calling you dumbass until you tell me your name." Jax snickered. "Come on. You aren't fit enough to walk, so I'm carrying you."

"This is gonna be embarrassing to hell."

"I know it is, dumbass. Not for you, but for me too." Jax lifted the guy, before noticing his rifle. He walked over and knelt down. "Grab your rifle. We'll be making a stop at the omnic and help him before we head… I dunno, somewhere."

"I have a place we can go. It's classified, so I'm only going to give directions and we have to stay in the shadows." 76 grunted, grabbing his rifle and holding onto it the whole way to the omnic. Jax set 76 on the ground and got the omnic out of the shadows.

"So, what's your name?" Jax asks as he began to get to work on repairing the omnic the best he could.

"I'm Hadrian." the omnic replied, as he looked down at his legs where Jax was working.

"Well, Hadrian, I won't be able to replace any of your dented or destroyed part, but I think you'll get along fine without any of the parts they destroyed for a few weeks, maybe a month at the most. Got anyone waiting at home for you?"

"My wife and our adopted daughter."

"They'll surely be worrying about you." Jax chuckles, remembering his own family who he was sure were in Sweden by now.

"Don't you have family?"

"They're in another country, currently. I'm trying to elude some, uh, other bad people."

"TALON?" 76 asks, looking up at him.

"Yeah." Jax nodded, finishing up with one leg. He got to the other. "So, uh, as I was saying, you'll have to get some of your destroyed parts replaced, and maybe some of the dented ones. I wouldn't worry too much about the dented ones, though, but I would like it for you to get those replaced as well." Jax told him. The other leg wasn't as banged up as the first one, so it was easier to repair. "There. You can at least walk home now."

"Thank you. So, so much… You'll be a hero forever to me. Thank you." Hadrian praised, managing to stand up. "I'll tell my daughter about you. After all, I would never be able to make it home tonight without your help."

"Be careful, sir." Jax bade, before the omnic continued down the street, on his way to the home he probably would never have been able to return to without his help. In the direction the man was leaving in came the girl.

"I'll be right back with the bandages and supplies!" she told him, running past him while carrying the flour with only slight struggle. Jax goes over to the 76 guy, who was inspecting his rifle.

"So, uh, how'd you get here?"

"I walked."

"No, dumbass. How you got to this point in your life, I mean."

"You could've been more specific, pest."

"Well, gee, you don't have a lot of wisdom for a grandpa, huh?"

"Don't call me grandpa. I like 'dumbass' better."

"Okay, dumbass." Jax smirked a little, before beginning to go through his bag. A photo fell out.

"What's that?"

"A photo, dumbass."

"Let me see it." Jax raised an eyebrow, picking up the photo and handing it to 76. "Did you take this a few hours ago or something?"

"If I'm honest, only an hour ago."

"Why are you taking pictures of your location?"

"Well, my dad's always wanted to do this kind of travelling- bike riding thousands of miles to get to a faraway destination- so, uh, ever since I decided to leave, I thought I'd get that finished for him since he's much too old to be able to finish it with me now. So, uh, that's a picture to show to the old man when I get home."

"Nice thinking. Hold onto this picture close- TALON will be able to find you easily knowing this was your most recent location."

"Oh, now you decide to be a bit nicer, dumbass?" Suddenly, 76 chuckled.

"I'm usually a hard-headed guy, but you reminded me of a kid I met years ago… must be why I'm so soft to you in particular."

"Does that mean you'll tell me your name?"

"No."

"Dumbass."

"Pest."

The two men relaxed a little in silence, waiting for the girl to arrive back with the bandages and supplies. She did arrive back, a bag in hand.

"Gracias. Muchas gracias." she thanked him for his help, as Jax took the bag, sticking it into his backpack. He noticed the girl stuck around. "Are you guys one of those heroes?"

"I'm not. Much too young to have been." Jax looked down at 76, who looked up at the girl for a second before looking away.

"Not anymore." Jax then picked up 76 before beginning to walk away.

"I think you are." he heard the little girl say before Jax and 76 disappeared into the shadows.

-/

 **Wow. What a chapter, huh? Really action packed.**

 **I had much more planned, but it started to get too long and I wanted to get this out, so, uh, here it is! I hope you all liked it!**

 **So, uh, any predictions in particular? Should 76 have gotten soft on him like this so easily? Will Jax become a future Overwatch member when the recall is sent out? Will 76 eventually reveal to Jax who he is? What's gonna happen with TALON? Leave your answers in the reviews and I will reply to them here!**

 **No new reviews from the previous chapter… :/**

 **Uh, so thank you all so much for reading and I guess I'll see YOU, in the next chapter…**

 **CIAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!**


	4. Chapter Three

**AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH GREAT TO MEETCHYALL I AM GOMMIE AND WELCOME BACK TO "A SHADOW OF MYSELFFFFF!"**

 **Okay, in the previous chapter, Jax helped out Solider: 76 against the Los Muertos thugs which resulted in 76 getting wounded and Jax having to take care of him for a while.**

 **I had Dorado take place in Mexico, even though it's actually in Puerto Rico. I don't know, I went off of the wikia, so…**

 **In this chapter, Winston finally makes his recall, and Jax begins to realize who this 76 guy really is…**

 **Enough spoilers. XD**

 **Here y'all go and enjoy the show!**

-/

After the surgery which Jax was hard at work in taking care of 76 and getting the bullet out of his abdomen. Luckily, there was no internal damage that was nothing Jax couldn't fix. Jax finished up by wrapping the bandage around the man's waist over the wound. The blond sighs, looking at the bag of supplies that little Ale had given him. There was, sadly, absolutely nothing left- everything was used during the surgery to get the bullet out of the wounded warrior and seal the wound. Jax, who was currently cleaning up after himself, picked up the bag to feel something crinkle inside. A little confused, Jax looked inside the bag. There was a note… two of them.

"Gracias for your help. I hope to see you again someday, hero!

-Alejandra"

"Heroes never die, and I knew that. Thank you for keeping hope in today's childhood. Don't ever stop fighting for what's right. After all… someone has to help.

-Susana"

Jax smiled at the two notes- he was sure one of them was from that little girl's mother who was grateful he had saved her daughter's life. He pocketed them, deciding to show 76 later. Right now, he was sleeping on the table still, which reminded Jax that he had to find his room and take him there before starting on breakfast. The blond man finished cleaning up the supplies before checking 76's pulse.

"Still there. Good." he told himself, before going to look for the room.

The hideout was actually literally a hideout- the only way to access it was through this hole behind a dumpster in one of the older buildings. The building itself was abandoned, but Jax's new friend stayed in the basement completely, as it seemed. He didn't dare to go check out the upstairs. After all, this was 76's place, not his.

There was a narrow hallway that was actually pretty short- only four doors, two to both walls, and a mirror at the end. Jax turned on the light and finally saw his own reflection in what was only a few months, but felt like fifteen years. Jax had grown a bit of a beard, his hair had grown out a little, he had gotten only an inch taller (now making him 5' 10" (177.8 cm)) and his leg muscles were just a little more defined from all that riding on the bike. The only difference was that his green eyes, the emerald green eyes that he shared with his mother, they were still sparkling. Even though times were growing dark (if they weren't already), Jax still saw the light.

The light was switched off as Jax checked each of the rooms. The second door to the left had an unmade bed and clothes strewn all over. Jax knew this was most likely 76's room, and he went back to the kitchen where the surgery was performed and the older man was still sleeping on the table. The younger one carefully lifted him, taking him to his room and tucking him into bed and closing the door. Jax figured he could just check out the rest of the place while 76 was asleep. If he was going to be staying here a while, might as well get used to the surroundings.

He found that the second door to the right was originally another bedroom, but it looked like it was transformed into an armory. The first door to the left was the bathroom, and the first door to the right was a storage compartment-slash-pantry. The living room was actually still a little messy, like all other rooms in the small home- the only room that was actually clean was the kitchen. And now that was messy, thanks to Jax's little surgery done on the counter.

Jax gave a little sigh. He then cracked his knuckles and got right to work. It was only 3 in the morning, and he was sure that 76 wouldn't be up for another few hours.

-/

Screw 'another few hours.' The old man rested for more than half the day, enabling Jax to finish with a lot of chores that he couldn't get done. Cleaning the rooms, washing the clothes, scrubbing the kitchen area, and made himself breakfast. He didn't quite knew when 76 would be up, but he did check the pulse every once in awhile to make sure he was still alive. Sure, the surgery had gone well, but one can never be too sure.

Jax looked up at the door where 76 lied in bed, still resting for his 5th hour straight. The older man sure was injured, but the younger hoped that it wouldn't turn into a coma. With a sigh, he stood, inspecting his work. The kitchen was fully cleaned, so was the living room, he also cleaned up the armory a little and even scrubbed the 76 letterman jacket and hung it up in 76's room. At the moment, he was organizing his backpack. He was going to ask if he could have a new set of clothes because his other pair was bloodied too much. Jax looked down at the slightly bloodied clothes he was wearing at that moment, before noticing the bathroom door. Jax glanced at the door where 76 slept.

"Well, a quick shower and shave could be done in less than an hour… I just have to hope he doesn't wake up before then." Jax sighs, heading into the bathroom with only the extra pair of boxers he didn't use to help pad the wound.

Okay, yeah, that may have seemed selfish, but Jax didn't want to be asking around for an extra pair of boxers.

Jax didn't take any time and wasted no water droplet. He was in and out, a towel wrapped around his waist as he now stood in front of the mirror over the sink.

"Now to shave…"

-/

And to sleep.

Not only was 76 asleep, but so was Jax. Sprawled on the couch. Hugging a pillow. Still in slightly bloody clothes.

Well, except for the t-shirt. His gray one was too bloodied, so he had to throw that out and he stole one of 76's old shirts. It was completely black and had an insignia of the Overwatch symbol, but anyone could have gotten a t-shirt from Overwatch. This one was nothing different.

His stubble of a beard was shaved clean off, and his hair was neatly cut, quiffed upwards in the front. Jax admitted he reminded himself of Jack Morrison. Heh. Well, that part was a mistake.

Enough about Jax's daily activities. Let's get on with some of the interesting parts.

There was a small device on the coffee table (in front of the couch) that Jax had never really seen. He thought it was the remote to something, so he left it there just in case 76 didn't want him messing around with it. It vibrated a bit, but Jax was too deep into his sleep to hear or see it. Suddenly, the device glowed blue, before pulling up a hologram.

"Whoever you are, I advise you to destroy this holopad and forget this call was even made." A great big gorilla in white, black, and orange armor started, reading off of a flash card in front of him. He didn't look up to see who was on the receiving end. "Jack Morrison has been dead for years, and you are providing false… hope…" The gorilla found it weird that there was no one saying anything (as someone would surely have been protesting about the holopad they found somehow), so he glanced up once or twice during his little speech, only to find a sleepy blond-haired man lying on the couch in front of the screen. The blond looked so much like his old friend that all Winston could do at the moment was grin.

"Athena, end this call and send a voicemail."

-/

Jax was up and about again, now cooking dinner, when he heard a thud and a grunt from the 76 guy's room. Jax's eyebrows raised, and he set down the knife he was using to cut some veggies he had bought earlier on. He crept into the other room, noticing a struggling-to-stand 76.

"You're wounded, dumbass. You can't be walking around." Jax sighs, tossing the towel over his shoulder and helping the wounded one up and back into bed. "Look, I, uh, got you healed and everything and you've been out for… hold on." Jax held a finger up, looking at the clock. It was about 6 PM. "Yep. 14 hours."

"14?!"

"Yeah, 14. Anyways, you seem to be healing up well, and… uh, I hope you didn't mind me doing some chores around here? It's more of a force of habit, honestly-"

"No, I don't mind. Did you touch anything in here or in the armory?"

"Just your clothes to wash from in here and in the armory, I only picked up some bullets left on the ground. The two rooms were pretty personal, which I pretty much left them alone." Jax chuckles. "Any other questions? I'm making dinner for us now, and I don't want to leave it sitting for long."

"No. Just, uh… can I be in the living room?" 76 asks a little sheepishly.

"Why, you like your recliner, dumbass?"

"Shut up. I find it comfortable." Jax laughed, going over and helping up 76.

"You're healing a little fast for an old man."

"It's in my blood. Partook in war in my day. I'm used to being shot sometimes."

"Still not gonna tell me your name?"

"No." 76 shook his head, a chuckle being released.

"Which is cool. I'll keep calling you dumbass."

"How 'bout you don't, kid? You haven't given me _your_ name." 76 asked as he was set down into his recliner.

"Well, my name is Jax. I thought you would've recognized that from my backpack." Jax motioned to his backpack. There was the faint sewings of a J, an A, and an X on the front in that order.

"... oh."

"Now I know how much of a dumbass you really are."

"Stop calling me that."

"You told me not to call you grandpa, that's the one name I won't call you. Even if and when you tell me your name, I'm still calling you dumbass."

"Why so?"

"Because you are one most of the time." Jax chuckles, going back to cutting the veggies. 76 only scoffed, picking up a golf magazine from the table next to the recliner he was now relaxed in.

"Smartass." he grumbled under the white mask of his.

-/

A vibrating sound echoed from the living room as Jax brought over their dinner, which was a chicken salad.

"What's that?" Jax wondered, looking around as he handed 76 his plate. He then spotted the holopad glowing a bright green. "You have a holopad?"

"Just bring it to me."

"I thought it was a remote for something. Must've thought wrong." Jax grabbed the holopad and handed it to 76. He took it and managed to get it to work. A larger hologram popped up.

"Hello, Commander. I hope you're awake by the time this gets to you. I see you haven't aged a day since the explosion, especially since the world thought you were dead." A gorilla began to speak, adjusting his glasses as he did so. "I am recalling all Overwatch agents- you included- back to Watchpoint: Gibraltar. You have been located by the tracking system on the holopad. Get back to me and I will provide a ride if you are overseas." the gorilla finished, then looked up at the camera. "I hope to see you soon, Commander." The hologram then died down, and Jax looked up at 76.

"Everyone knows the commander's dead- wait a minute." Jax looked up at 76, who didn't budge since the call ended.

"He must've saw you and you didn't notice- probably mistook you as the Commander. You _do_ look quite like him, after all."

"Exactly what I thought after I looked in the mirror." Jax chuckles. "But how'd you get his holopad? It should've been destroyed in the blast."

"I found it." 76 said simply, and Jax didn't press any further on the matter.

"So, uh, what should we say back to Winston?"

"You know him?"

"Well, of course I do. He was the one being that my oldest sister looked up to daily, even when Overwatch disbanded." Jax smiles. "My family, the kiddos at least, we looked up to at least one member of the team."

"Oh, really?"

"Yep. Oldest sister, her name's Jordan, she was a brainiac and she always looked up to Winston, as you know. Next in line is the second oldest sister, Jackie, she always was a fan of Tracer, always dreamed of racing her even though she knew she was going to lose. Then there's me, then after me are the twins, Jessie and Juliet- they were both big fans of agility and swiftness, which led to them having eyes on Genji and McCree. And finally, the youngest, she plans to be a doctor when she's grown, Jasmine, she was always looking up to Mercy."

"What about you? You had to have someone to look up to, right?"

"Yeah, uh… Ever since he and his partner saved me during the Great Battle Of Pittsburgh when I was just a toddler, uh… I've always looked up to Jack Morrison. He may not have completely saved me, but he still stuck around to make sure I was okay, and uh… that's how I knew he truly cared about the world. That, and he reminded me much of my dad." Jax began, just kinda looking at the table, his slightly-finished chicken salad in his hands. "Dad was always my role model, that was for sure- not even Jack Morrison could beat him. But, uh, one big embarrassing thing about the Great Battle Of Pittsburgh, heh… I thought Jack Morrison was my dad." Jax laughed a little, but felt 76's eyes on him so intensely that he decided to continue. "Yeah, I did, heh. Uhm, so it was the part where the omnics took over, this guy was trying to get me to run, but he was shot and he fell on top of me, keeping me from being able to run away. I was so sure I was going to die right then and there, but Overwatch came. I thought I heard my dad, probably helping fight them off since he was chief of the LAPD at the time, so I got out of hiding from under the body and ran to him. Jack Morrison had to call a friend over to help me find my parents, but then more omnics came, then I was shot." Jax set down the bowl on the coffee table in front of him, and he pulled up the black shirt he wore to reveal a bullet wound on his side. "Luckily, Jack Morrison managed to slow the bleeding until after that second wave of omnics, and I somehow managed to stay alive through the next sixteen waves- hence the _Great_ Battle being in the name- and around that time, Mercy had finished tending to most of the others who were wounded from gunshots, so she pretty much immediately took me in and saved me. Turns out, I was lucky to have survived that long… A few years afterwards, Dad told me how I did survive that long- it was because I had this ability to recover quickly and more effectively than most other human beings." Jax noticed he was now just poking around his dinner and glanced up at 76 here and there.

"Do you think Overwatch should get back together to help the world again?"

"I think they never left. At least that's what I like to think." Jax shrugged.

"Let's go." 76 stated. "As soon as I'm healed, we can send Winston a message, telling him that we'll be on our way."

"Huh? But we aren't-"

"You're not Jack Morrison, nor are we agents of Overwatch. But we can become agents. I'm sure they're recruiting at this time."

"I may not be Jack Morrison… But I kinda think you are."

"What makes you think that?"

"I dunno, you just remind me a lot of him. Forget I said anything, honestly." Jax shook his head with a small sigh.

"We can still go as soon as I'm healed up. But right now.." The older man picked up the holopad and tossed it at Jax, who caught it with ease. "You have to give that Winston a call and tell him the truth right now. I'll be right here with ya." He then proceeded to take off his mask and Jax did a small double take.

"You look kinda familiar. Also, why'd you take your mask off?"

"To eat." The older man gave Jax a look, that was more of a smirk and a raised eyebrow. "Who's the dumbass now?" Jax raised his finger to speak, but then he was cut off by the hums of satisfaction. "Hey, this is good." Jax couldn't help but to blush a little and chuckle, both at the compliment and the embarrassment.

"Well, uh, first off- _I_ call _you_ dumbass. If you want a nickname for me, then smartass would do just fine." Jax let out a laugh, holding the holopad in his other hand, his dinner left on the table. "Second off, what am I even supposed to say? 'Hey, my buddy somehow found this holopad after that big blast, I just somehow look like your dead commander, uh, can we still come? We totally aren't baddies who look like good guys.'"

"You really are a dumbass, huh?" The man in the recliner laughs. "Who saved six 4 dozen people by hauling a statue of his hero? You didn't forget how you got here and why?"

"... oh." _Man. I really am a dumbass._

"Yeah, _oh."_ The man used his fork to motion to the holopad. "Now go on. Tell 'em."

"What about you? 'Oh, there's also this stranger who hasn't told me his name, but I call him dumbass-'"

"Hey, just, uhm… call me Lukas for now, I guess. I'll act as your granddad."

"Really? Are you sure about that?"

"Yeah… yeah. Just, uh…" Lukas shrugged. "Just say I'm wounded and that we'll be over soon. That you can't really leave home without me." Jax rolled his eyes at that thought.

"Alright, then, dumbass." Jax looked down at the holopad. He then turned it on, looking for the calling app. Since he didn't really know how to work the holopad, it took him a little bit of time to get it working. Suddenly, the same hologram of the gorilla, Winston, popped up.

"Jack, I'm so glad you got back to us! We-" he began happily, but then halted at Jax's confused look.

"'We'?" Jax wondered. He then shook his head, getting down to business. "Uh, hey, uh… I'm not Jack Morrison." Jax ran a hand through his hair, chuckling awkwardly. "My name's Jax Phillips. My grandpa, Lukas, he found this holopad outside the blast while on vacation in Switzerland. Uh, but I was kinda hoping to still come by to be an agent? You'll need some rookies, right?"

"Well, the more the merrier…" Winston pondered, taking it all in. He then peered up at Jax, wondering… (while Jax only chuckled a little nervously) "You still look like Jack."

"So I've been told." Jax sighed, scratching the back of his head. "Keep in mind, uhm… it's just my grandpa and I here. If you bring me over, you'll have to bring him over too. He was a part of the U.S. Navy when he was younger, during the Omnic Crisis, I think…" Jax thought about it a bit. ".. so perhaps he can help a bit with some of the training?"

"Has he been doing any fighting lately?"

"No… but he helped me hold hope in you guys. This girl, the Los Muertos gang took her money and she went after them. She would be dead right about now if it weren't for granddad and I. After the battle, when I was carrying grandpa home because he had gotten wounded during it, and she asked if we were one of those heroes. I knew who she was talking about but I was, and I still am, too young to have been a part of the hero organization years ago. Grandpa said he could've been, but not anymore." Winston seemed to buy the story.

"I'll send an aircraft to the location of the holopad in three months. That'll be August 28th, and it should be there and ready for you at about 2:30 PM. It also should be enough time for your grandpa to heal up and for you to prepare yourselves. You'll be our first recruits, and I'm glad it was your grandfather who picked up this holopad. After all, if it were a member of TALON or anyone of the sort… well, I'm just glad you have this holopad."

"Thank you, Winston. We won't let ya down." Jax hung up, pressing a button on the holopad.

"That wasn't so hard now, was it?"

"Shut up, dumbass."

"I'm your grandpa, you don't speak to me that way-" Jax laughed, before continuing his meal.

He was to be joining Overwatch, after all. In three months, he'd be a recruit to the reformation of Overwatch.

-/

 **And that's all there is for this chapter. Holy moley. I probably lied about the weekly-biweekly updates thing. It's most likely when I'm really inspired that my story gets updates so quickly. That, and I just sit in front of a computer most of the time.**

 **QOTC: Have you played or seen Resident Evil 7?**

 **I've only watched Markiplier play through the game, so I'm gonna use his playthrough haha.**

 **That's literally all I have for this chapter, so, uh…**

 **Thank you all so much for reading and I guess I'll see YOU, in the next chapter…**

 **CIAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!**


	5. Chapter Four

**AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH GREAT TO MEETCHYALL I AM GOMMIE AND WELCOME BACK TO "A SHADOW OF MYSELFFFFF!"**

 **Okay, uh, if you find this story on Wattpad under GirlOfMyOwnWorld, don't worry- that account is also mine. This story is only on those two accounts, alright? Alright.**

 **So, in the previous chapter, Winston has recalled all the agents, and he found Jack Morrison's holopad on the grid. Led by false hope that he's alive, Winston calls up Jack, only to be met by Jax. Winston ends up allowing him and his "grandfather" to come to the new HQ of Overwatch for Jax to begin training.**

 **Mhm.. here y'all go and enjoy the show!**

-/

"Wow, dumbass, you look like you're moving around pretty well."

"Yeah? Doesn't take much to faze an old man like me."

"That shot was in the abdomen. Of course it would take you a while longer to be able to get up and move around again." Jax rolled his eyes as Lukas went to his room to grab something he said he had forgotten.

It was now August. The 14th, to be exact. August 14th, the time was 11:34 AM. Through the months, Jax had been taking care of Lukas while going out to battle the Los Muertos gang at night, only able to have his rest in the early morning hours while Lukas was doing his own chores now. "Hey, if you're going out to fight the bad guys while I'm injured, I might as well help here." Jax knew how stubborn Lukas was, and, well, that's how routine went for the few months.

"Should we head back up into the U.S.? That would be a little easier." Jax had asked Lukas some time ago while the two of them enjoyed dinner in the living room as usual.

"Hmm. A secluded place to be picked up is a lot better of an idea than being picked up around here, where there's a lot of eyes in every direction. You got an idea of where?"

"Yeah, but it's gonna take a little bit of a while to get there." Jax had nodded, before cleaning up the dishes as Lukas went to his room for bed.

"Hey, dumbass!" Jax called through the small home.

"Yeah?"

"We should get packing to leave. It's gonna take some days of biking from here to Delaware!"

"Delaware?"

"Yeah, that was the place I was talking about some time ago. I know a secluded little beach away from any towns or anything that'll detect the dropship."

"Hm. Good thinking. Yeah, let's get packed."

-/

Jax and 76 got their things into duffels and that's when 76 realized that they didn't have a mode of transportation. They had 12 days to get to the location Jax had in mind, and at the moment, they were in the desert, away from the town of Dorado to prevent suspicion.

"Smartass, d'ya got a way for us to get there?"

"Yeah, that part's covered, don'chu worry, dumbass!" Jax laughed.

"And how do you suggest we get there? I don't see a car or anything around. We have two weeks to get there."

"Oh, uh, I forgot to tell ya, heh- well, uh- we'll be making a few stops before we head to Delaware. Mostly for the helicopter to restock on fuel."

"Helicopter?!"

"Relax, dumbass-"

"Where did you get a _helicopter?_ "

"I made a few friends with a military Lieutenant in the Battle of Overwatch." Jax stated simply. "She should be here in two minutes-" Jax checked his watch, and then there was the whirring of helicopter blades suddenly a little aways from them, the force of the wind making Jax's hair fly back a bit and he had to shield his eyes with his arm. "- make that two seconds." The two men stood their ground, as Jax spotted Lieutenant Val waving them towards the helicopter over his arm.

"Let's go!" he called out to 76, grabbing his bag and pushing against the wind. As he progressed, he made sure 76 was with him. Even though the wound was completely healed on the outside and he was moving around, it was still a little sore. 76 was still a few feet behind Jax, carrying his bag with him as he went through the wind unfazed. His mask was covering his eyes, thus him not being affected by the heavy winds. If anything, he looked like a hero walking away from an explosion in a movie. That thought made Jax laugh, still progressing a little ahead of 76.

The two finally got to the side of the 'copter, at last, and that's when Jax tossed his bag on. He got on and turned around to see 76's progress, which was pretty close to the 'copter. Jax leant forward out of the helicopter a little, and held out his hand for 76 to, well…

"Grab on!" There it is. 76 followed his order, grasping Jax's hand. With his strength, Jax pulled 76 the rest of the way into the 'copter, and Val closed the doors.

"Everyone good!" The pilot called out to the bunch, ready to take off.

"Yes, Juan, let's go!"

"Buckle up, guys and girl!" The helicopter lifted off, and Jax tossed the bags into the little basket in the back, getting strapped in as Val got back into the front, strapping in and getting the headset on. Jax followed, in his own seat and getting the headset on, and so did 76.

"Where's the first stop?" Juan asks Val, making the 'copter lift off and turning on the ghost (which made the helicopter and anyone inside be invisible to anyone outside).

"Just outside of Los Angeles, I believe?" Val looked back at Jax, who nodded.

"I have to make a few stops at home, even though the family's gone." The four didn't quite have to yell anymore since the headphones got them on the same channel. 76 looked at Jax, who was staring out the window, down at the now-small town of Dorado in the distance.

-/

"Do you want to join me?" Jax asks 76, looking over at him. The helicopter had just landed, and Val's son had been wanting to see Jax again, which Val had left them to retrieve him from her office.

"What?"

"To where I have to go, I mean." Jax added, "I swear it's no place _bad_ or anything, it's just… I think you'd like to meet someone."

"Alright." 76 gave a small shrug of 'why not' as a child came through the door and hugged Jax around the waist.

"It's you again!" Jax laughs at the boy's antics.

"Yeah, it's me, kiddo. How ya been?"

While Jax and the little boy talked for a little, 76 couldn't help but to feel some memories come to him. He remembered being in Jax's position. He remembered it all, and although it seems selfish… he missed it all. He missed being a part of Overwatch, and he was completely and utterly happy to go back, even though he didn't quite show it.

As soon as the child, Herman, and Jax said their goodbyes, Herman said that he would remember Jax forever, and that made Jax smile. He really did change the world already, in a way or two.

"Ready to go?" Jax asks 76, looking up at him.

"Yeah, let's go." 76 stood, and Jax threw on a hoodie, pulling the hood up.

"Smart of you to change into a different jacket." Jax complemented 76. He laid off on the nickname for the time being, as the kiddo could be listening in from his mother's office.

"Why, thank you, pest." Jax snickered before leading the way out of the door. The helicopter had landed them just outside of LA, and it didn't take them long to get to the first destination.

"You never told me where we were heading first." 76 asked Jax, wearing a dark blue hat to guard the sun and to keep unwanted eyes off of them. Not that there were many people around anyways.

"Well, uh, first, we're heading to my dad's place, actually. He knows about what's going on, but I still have yet to catch him up on my aspect of it. He prefers the aspect of someone who's actually been in the situation before, you know?"

"Yeah, I see what you mean." the older man simply nodded. There was a slight pause, a moment of awkwardly just walking, until 76 spoke up again. "You said your old man worked in the LAPD?"

"Yeah."

"The one that was Jack Morrison's doppleganger?"

"Yep." Jax chuckles.

"Huh. I think I've heard of him here and there. Back when I when was younger, when Overwatch was around, my old pals would make up these wacky stories about how the infamous Jack Morrison led a secret double life, a police chief by day and an Overwatch agent by night!" 76 stated dramatically, making Jax laugh.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, no joke, true story." At that confirmation, Jax only laughed harder, practically gasping for air at this point. Under the cap, 76 smiled. It's been a bit of a while since he heard Jax laugh or even grin this wide.

"Woooow.." With a chuckle, 76 looked around them. There was still very few people on the streets, and that's when Jax calmed down, heaving his breath. He became redirected to where they were heading first, and took a right onto a lone trail with a sign that said 'Los Angeles Great Cemetery.' At the sign, 76 paused in his tracks.

"Your father's dead?" Sure, as Jack Morrison, 76 knew the LA police chief in his time in Overwatch (they occasionally had to meet up to help escort people and get an area cleared for the next mission) and the other man was genuine and a great influence to the city of LA overall. Not once, though… not once had he gotten the news that a good friend of his was dead and gone.

"Yeah.. do you still want to meet him? I mean, I understand completely if you don't-" Jax turned around to look at 76 from where he was walking ahead.

"No, no." 76 picked up his pace and caught up to the other male. "Your father molded his son into a great young man. It'd be an honor to meet him." That sentence made Jax blush a bit.

"Thanks." Jax smiled. "It's usually a little hard coming out here alone because I would sometimes come here at about 9 in the morning and I would be talking to him until 10 at night, when Jordan would come for me. Even though I have two older sisters… seems like I'm the kid who misses his dad the most." It was silent from that point on, and 76 didn't know what to say, honestly.

-/

Jax knelt down in front of the graying grave that was once a pristine white for his service in the LAPD.

"Hey dad. It's been a while, and I never really got to say goodbye before I took my leave to Dorado. But hey, I accomplished something we never really got to do together, since you were so busy with your job and all." Jax took out the photo. He looked down at the small chest that was implanted into the ground, and opened it. Inside were some small toys and more photos and even some envelopes.

Kaleb Phillips's grave was a little aways from the rest of the other graves, mainly because Kaleb's ashes were turned into a plant for a tree. As the tree was still rather young, from it being only a few years since his death, it wasn't quite fully grown into the large oak it's meant to become in the future.

"But while I was in Dorado, I, uh, I made a few new friends. One of 'em's right here. He never gave me his name, so-" Jax turned to look at 76 to find his hat off and him kneeling on the ground next to Jax.

"Jack. Jack Morrison." 76 glanced at Jax, who was giving him a confused look. He took his sunglasses and hat off. "That's my name." he added.

"Wait- I thought-"

"Jack Morrison isn't dead, kiddo. But don't go announcin' it to the world, the UN will be after us before we even know it-" his words were cut off by Jax throwing his arms around Jack Morrison. The real Jack Morrison was still alive… after all this time…

Jack Morrison never really felt this before. He never got to settle down and have a family- he always thought he was too far gone and too old to begin a family. But when Jax hugged him… he couldn't help but to get a small sense of, well, fatherly love, I guess. It's not completely _love_ , but more of a liking.

Jax seemed to have realized he was probably overstepping his boundaries and practically yanked himself away.

"Sorry." Jax apologized.

"No need to be, really. I'd do the same if my 'grandad' was secretly my role model." That made Jax turn a little red. He had praised Jack Morrison like he was a freaking god _right in front of him_ \- "Your kiddo helped me out when I got into a pretty tight situation. I owe him my life for that." Jack Morrison smiled down at Jax, who sent him a grin before looking back down at his father's grave.

"I'll see you soon, dad." Jax reached out and touched the gravestone, giving his father his final goodbye for what could be a couple of years.

-/

The two men had just gotten off of the jet that Val had taken them to Delaware in. It was August 28th, nearly 2:30 PM. The ship was to be here any moment.

Jax looked up and down the beach. Jack looked at Jax, watching the younger boy kneel down and scoop up some of the sand, before sanding up and letting it fall, drifting away in the wind. Jack had his usual jacket back on, plus his visor.

"I actually sort of expected you to be more surprised than that, back at the, uh… cemetery." He spoke up when the wind calmed down.

"That's 'cause I had a feeling it was you." Jax sent Jack a sly smile. "Don't leave so many pictures of your past lying around, dumbass."

"Goddammit." Jack muttered under his breath, making Jax laugh. When he finally did calm down, he checked his watch. 2:33.

"Hm. Must be running a little late." Jax dropped his duffle bag and sat on it. He wasn't a very big fan of getting sand in his pants. Jack took a few more minutes standing up before joining Jax, sitting on his own duffle in the sand. "But hey, I don't blame you for leaving said pictures lying around, actually. You missed your family. That's understandable." Jax shrugged.

"I did. And I'm about to become a part of it again."

"That sounds kinda awesome, actually, but, uh, are you gonna tell them it's you?" That made Jack take a deep breath in thought.

"Maybe I'll tell Winston, but not the others yet. I don't think I want to lead us all like the Commander I was."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I want us all to work together. Lead one another. It's kind of a new strategy I've been thinking up if I ever go back."

"I like it- the 'together, we are strong' sort of thing, right?"

"Yeah, exactly." It was a small moment of silence. "Also, the Great Battle Of Pittsburgh-"

"Oh my God, don't remind me-"

"You really thought I was your dad-?" Jack began to laugh under the mask.

"Well, you guys looked so much like each other back in that day that he even dressed up as you for Halloween one year, and he was continuously asked to sign an autograph or something- damn, the paparazzi would be huge if we actually lived in the city-" Jax laughs to himself as he thought about that Halloween night. Jax himself was dressed as a cute smol McCree. Although he was blond, he could still make the "m'lady" move work. Suddenly, the wind picked up. At this familiar notion of Mother Nature (even though it really wasn't her), Jack stood up.

"Come on, that's the dropship." Jack held his hand out for Jax to take, and Jax was helped up. "One last thing- don't call me Jack around other agents."

"Still don't want them knowing."

"No, I'm sure Winston told the others about me being your grandad."

"Oh. So I have to call ya Grandpa all the time. Gotcha." Jax hesitated a little. "I might call you dumbass here and there though-" A large black ship came out of nowhere and landed, half in the water and half on the sandy shore, all away from where Jax and Jack stood. A door opened and there was a great big gorilla on board, wearing armor and a small pair of glasses that looked like they didn't really fit his face all that much. Thus, at his motion forward to the ship, Jax and Jack jogged to get on board. It wasn't as challenging as it was with the helicopter, so they got on pretty easily.

"Do you still have the holopad?" Winston asks Jax, glancing suspiciously at 76. With his mask, he couldn't quite tell whether it was an imposter or not.

"Never lost it." Jax took it out. 76 took it from him.

"I'll keep that. I just have to change the name, Winston."

"What do you mean, that is Overwatch property-"

"Winston, buddy, calm down, please!" Jax held the gorilla back from leaping out at 76. "Uh, I think you said you'd tell him, old man."

"That I did." 76 placed his rifle on the table and pocketed the holopad before taking off his mask. "It's been a while, Winston." Jax accidentally let his guard down and Winston went right past him. There was the clatter of the mask hitting the ground and Jack was swept off of his feet into a hug as great as Winston was. Jax smiles at the reunion, grabbing both his and Jack's bags and placing them in the storage compartment for the long journey back. The younger one picked up the mask, setting it down on the table by his rifle.

"So is this your actual son?" Winston asked incredulously, having set down Jack at last.

"No, he actually just happens to look like younger me. Like his father did." Jack hesitated a little. "Remember the Great Battle Of Pittsburgh?" Winston sighs, remembering how they couldn't save everyone like they usually did. 18 waves of robots, if memory serves the author correctly, each wave harder and longer than the last.

"How can we forget the greatest battle of the Omnic Crisis?"

"Well, after the first wave, I believe, this little guy came running up to me, thinking I was his dad. Remember him?" Winston hesitated, either not remembering or letting the puzzle pieces click together in his head.

"That's him?" Winston asked, astonished as he was, looking at Jax, who awkwardly waved.

"He was also the one who helped people to safety inside the Overwatch Museum at LA. Battle Of Overwatch, up against TALON."

"Oh-kay, dumbass, that's enough showing me off, you're embarrassing me-"

"You're not even a part of Overwatch and you still protected the world. I think you deserve this recognition." Jack told him in such a stern voice that Jax held his hands up in surrender.

"He just called you dumbass." Winston looked like he was fighting a smile. "I'm sorry, I have to go to, uh, make sure that Athena is ready for liftoff-" and with that, the ape left the room, going up the stairs into the cockpit very quickly, nearly running. From the main room, they could hear him laughing loudly. Jack turned around and glared at Jax, who gave him a smile.

"I'm so mad at you."

"You can't stay mad at me forever, dumbass." Jax grinned, and Jack groaned, dragging his hand down his face.

"You're right there, pest. Now scoot over." Jack made this backhanding motion, sitting down next to Jax just as the dropship began to lift off.

-/

 **Ahh. That's another chapter done, at long last.**

 **Sorry for the long wait, guys! I actually was kinda taking a storywriting break, but eyyyy I'm back!**

 **QOTC: Which browser do you use?**

 **I usually use Chrome lol.**

 **Softball is starting up now, so I may be a little too busy to upload chapters as fast as I usually do, but that doesn't mean this story will be gone forever, ah, no! Just gonna take a few weeks, maybe more, maybe less, to get an update out, now.**

 **With that done…**

 **Thank you all so much for reading and I guess I'll see YOU guys, in the next chapter…**

 **CIAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!**


	6. Chapter Five

**AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH GREAT TO MEETCHYALL I AM GOMMIE AND WELCOME BACK TO "A SHADOW OF MYSELFFFFFF!"**

 **I'm about ¾ of the way until I'm done with school for the summer yayy! Just 9 more weeks, actually!**

 **In the previous chapter, Jax and Winston are off to a great start as they get on the dropship. Jack reveals his identity to the two, and now, they're all heading to one of the last Overwatch bases left on Earth- Watchpoint: Gibraltar.**

 **Here y'all go and enjoy the show!**

-/

Jax was shooting a basketball, missing some shots and making some, while they were in the sky. Winston and Jack were chatting- catching up and all that. Turns out, a lot has happened since Overwatch was disbanded.

Jax was in and out of the conversation. His mind kept going back to his mother. He knew she was with his Uncle Felix right now, with his sisters. Jax was sure that they were going to be working in his restaurant, helping him with the money. He only hoped that TALON wouldn't track them- TALON wasn't huge in northern Europe, but they were still lurking, probably waiting to attack around every corner. If they did manage to take his family, then they'd take Uncle Felix and his wife as well and that would _not_ be very good, hehe, because he put them in that situation and- Jax stopped himself from going any further, taking a deep breath as he grabbed the ball and set it back on the rack where he got it from.

"Winston, we are about to land in the hangar." a voice suddenly spoke up. It was soft, smooth, definitely soothing, and Jax relaxed when he realized it was just Athena, Winston's supercomputer 'Siri.' Athena's definitely a lot smarter than Siri.

"Okay, thank you." Winston told Athena, who could have nodded if she had a body. "Well, I do hope you're ready to see some old friends, Jack, even though they may not know it's you."

"I'm good, heh." Jack chuckles, and Jax went over to the storage compartment, grabbing his and Jack's duffles. With his strength, he gently yet firmly tossed the duffle across the room, and Jack caught it with ease. Jax slung his bookbag over his shoulder, carrying his own rifle. It was one that Jack (well, more like Lukas, at the time) had taught him to assemble. He was gonna need a weapon for some missions against Los Muertos. "I'll tell them when the time is right." he promised his friend, putting his mask back on. "In this mask, I'm Lukas, Jax's grandfather. Was once in the U.S. Navy, and is the secretive Soldier: 76 from Dorado."

"Lukas, Jax's grandad, U.S. Navy, Soldier: 76 from Dorado. Got it." Winston sent the older man a smile,

"Thanks, Winston. Really."

"Anything for an old friend." From behind, Jax smiles as he watches Winston pat Jack on the back. Jack stumbled forward a bit, and the dropship door opened, making the older man practically fly out. From the other side, there was some laughing from two people. At this, Jax felt a little enraged.

"Hey, what the hell?" He exclaimed, going to help his grandad up. Jax picked up Lukas by under his arm, immediately finding the two who were laughing. It was a scrawny guy whose hair was on fire and a fat guy with a pig tattooed onto his belly. Scrawny guy was doubled over and fatso was snorting. "You can laugh all you want at your friends falling, but you never laugh at a stranger, you ruddy fools!" Halfway through his statement, the two laughers looked up to meet the eyes of the Jack Morrison look-alike and they suddenly stopped, believing for some time that it was actually Jack Morrison and not Jax Phillips.

Now it was pretty much everyone's turn to laugh. Most of the heroes, some new some old, were actually gathered to welcome the two new recruits warmly, and they were pretty much the only ones who were told that Jax Phillips wasn't Jack Morrison. Junkrat and Roadhog didn't, as they were also fresh recruits.

The two were baffled- told for laughing at a stranger, now friends were laughing at them.

"Well, uh, we're so sorry for that, uh, Commander-" Roadhog sheepishly rubbed the back of his head as soon as the laughter died down.

"Commander? I ain't the dead Commander." Jax laughs a little. "I'm Jax Phillips. This is my grandpa, Lukas."

"Well, I'm Jamie, aka Junkrat!" The scrawnier guy puffed out his chest, making Jax snort a little as he let go of Lukas, who was now balanced thanks to Jax.

"And I'm Roadhog, but call me Mako when we're here." The fatso wasn't as arrogant as the scrawny one, just saying his name with what probably was a smile on his face under that mask. Suddenly someone appeared next to him.

"Cheers, luv! I'm Lena, but I'm Tracer in the battlefield!" The woman wore a bright orange jumpsuit of sorts and a cheery smile. It was clear she was British from the pilot jacket on her, if the accent didn't make it clear enough already. Another woman giggles and Jax turned around to find Mercy, the angel of Overwatch.

"I'm Mercy, but please, call me Angela." She said in a soothing voice, sending Lukas a smile when he looked down at her. Surely this felt a little weird for the man under the mask, and Jax chuckles.

"I'm Reinhardt the _strong!_ " A much older, much larger man boomed behind Jax, making the younger man jump forward a bit.

"Jeezums, man, don't scare me-"

"Sorry about that, he's always like that. I'm always Ana." A woman without an eye approached, a younger one next to her.

"And you must be Fareeha, right? I've heard about you here and there." Jax pointed at the other woman, raising an eyebrow, who nodded.

"Fareeha Amari."

"Don't go thinkin' things about her, young man-" Ana began her protective mother ramble, but Fareeha laughed.

"Ma, don't worry about it." She placed a hand on her mother's shoulder.

"Ma'am, I'm just being friendly, really. I recognized everyone else here right away, it only took me a few more moments to recognize her, that's all." Jax glanced up at Fareeha, who was about his height while her mother was shorter. "No offense."

"None taken." Fareeha laughed. "I'm also technically a rookie to Overwatch, so we're in the same boat."

"Speaking of rookies, where is your cousin, Lena? I thought she would be joining us." Winston looked down at the time-traveling British, who giggled.

"She should be here in a few moments. Must have gotten lost again."

"Why didn't you go look for her?"

"She said she wanted to look around on her own, figure it out on her own. I didn't mind that, it's how she gets used to new places." Lena only shrugged after that.

"I don't mind her not being around, we can formally meet later." Jax shrugged. He stepped back next to Lukas. "Anyways, I'm Jax Phillips, and this is my grandpa, Lukas Phillips." Jax motioned to himself when he was introducing himself, then to Lukas when he introduced him. Lukas merely waved. "It's, uh, great to meet you all." Jax chuckles, doing a small bow.

"Oooh, you're the guy from Battle Of Overwatch, ain't ya?" Lena asks, looking up at Jax with slight wonder. "I wondered how you were able to lift that statue without breaking a sweat!"

"Well, uh, kind of a long story, heh-" Jax began, but he was cut off by someone new saying something like.

"Oh my _God,_ finally I find the hangar!" Jax raised an eyebrow. It was a girl's voice, and when Jax looked behind Jamie, he found a new person, one he had never seen on Overwatch back then. She was obviously too young to have been, like Jax himself. "Sorry guys, for a lot of things, heh." She chuckles as she came through the small crowd to stand beside Lena, her cousin, apparently. She had long, dark brown hair that was kinda wavy and reached her shoulder blades and the same curious light brown eyes as her cousin. Must run through the family or something. "Hey, uh, I'm Raine. Raine Oxton. Lena's cousin."

"Jax Phillips." Jax shook her hand, pointing behind him. "That's my grandpa, Lukas Phillips."

"Nice to meet ya two." Raine stepped around Jax to shake Lukas's hand. "I'm guessing you're rookies?"

"I am. I think Lukas is gonna be a trainer or something." Jax chuckles a little, and Raine giggles a little.

"Five rookies in the past few months Overwatch has come back together. That's actually a lot better than what most people can say." Winston chuckles. "Or rather, six, if we're including Lukas here." He patted Lukas on the back. He paused as the robotic voice of Athena echoed in the hangar.

"Winston, an unknown number is attempting to contact you. The location seems to be coming from Dulvey, Louisiana, United States." On the large screen near the entrance to the main area of the new headquarters of Overwatch, there was a hologram of who looked like they were a police chief, their fingers tapping impatiently on the table. Although only starting to call moments ago, he sure seemed to be impatient for a chief, as he had started going through some reports, each one looking nearly like the last. From helping his father here and there (even though he's not allowed), he recognized them as the kinds of reports filed for missing people. There was a pretty big pile of folders with nearly nothing inside them. Jax's eyebrows raised, eyes widening slightly at the action, before Winston spoke up.

"I'll speak with him in a moment. Take the call to the Command Center, and tell him I'll be with him in a minute." He told Athena, and the hologram disappeared from the hangar screen, most likely transported to the Command Center as Winston had said. The ape then turned to Jamie and Mako. "Can you two escort out new arrivals to their quarters?"

"Yessir!" Jamie nodded, doing a salute, while Mako merely nodded.

"Thank you. Lena, Ana, Reinhardt, you three come with me and see what's going on." Winston nodded towards the Command Center, and began leading the way, while Jax began to follow Jamie and Mako, Lukas behind him.

-/

When he knew they were a safe distance away from the other heros, Jax finally said something. Of course, it had to be about the call and what he saw.

"Those files in front of the officer- those were Missing Persons reports." Jax said something.

"Ah, Dulvey is a sketchy place, really. Not crime-ridden, just sketchy." Mako reassured the rookie, but Jamie had a different idea.

"The place is a wicked bayou where there are ghosts lurking around every corner! The town ain't crime-ridden or sketchy, it's all out _haunted_ Mako- there's even that famous Haunted House to prove it~!"

"No, no, not the thing." Jax took over again, and Jamie silenced himself to listen. "The reports looked like they were a couple dozen, all of the folders having little to no information inside- there were even some missing policemen reports here and there. They must have sent some officers to try and retrieve whoever went missing to the best place their leads, well, led them to." Jax took a deep breath. "It seems like, all these missing peoples, their trails keep going to the same place, and the officer is worried that he'll lose someone else to the same place, so he wants to contact Overwatch, see if we can do anything."

"Well, all Overwatch activity is illegal, as the Petras Act says." Mako looked down at Jax. "How do you think Overwatch will help?"

"Well, Raine's been here a while, right? I never knew of her before, and neither does the world."

"The same goes for you, except in a different way, if you think about it." Jax heard Lukas say behind him. "You may have been a hero in Dorado and in San Diego, but no one knows you are an Overwatch agent. You'll have to keep under cover inside this base in case they need a backup to go to Dulvey, if something were to happen to Raine." Lukas explained, motioning to Jax, who was looking back at him. "Besides, you both aren't _official_ agents yet. Just rookies. So it technically isn't illegal Overwatch activity." Jamie looked down at Jax.

"Don't you worry, they probably won't send y'all out right away. You'll definitely have to get some training in first." Mako attempted to reassure again, and this time, Jamie stayed silent, thinking over the situation.

-/

It had been a few weeks since Jax and Lukas arrived, and in those few weeks, Jax had met more rookies and former agents. He got along well with Mei, played some games with Hana, helped Lucio make some good beats, and lifted with Zarya. Jax didn't forget about the other friends he had made, and still hung out with them during meals and free time. Most of his days were dedicated to training- physical workouts and combat with various agents in the morning, a few mental lessons with Winston after lunch, and shooting practice with Lukas before dinner, and he has free time after dinner to hang out with some others.

November 17th was the day that Winston had cancelled his lesson with Jax, and the ape was off to Louisiana with Lena and Mei by his side- leaving Jax with a few hours to spare before shooting practice with Lukas. The blond walked into the recreation room, finding only Raine there by herself, reading. She was lying across the couch, and Jax saw her dark hair over one armrest, also spotting the red cover of a book that was in her hand.

"Hey, Raine." Jax spoke, walking around the other end of the sofa. He was met with no answer as he cleaned up a little, putting away some board games and a console back in their places. "Raine?" He asks her again, looking up at her relaxed figure on the couch. Jax crept forward, carefully taking the book from her hands, only to find she has fallen asleep reading. Jax couldn't help but to smile. He marked her spot before setting the book on her stomach. Carefully and slowly at first, as not to wake her, he lifted her from the sofa, the book still tuckered into her stomach. Jax began making his way out the door when he nearly ran head-on into Zarya.

"Jax, how ar' you thiz fine day?" Her Russian accent came out clearly, as her loud voice echoed down the hall.

"Shh!" Jax quickly shushed her, looking down at Raine. All the British girl did was sigh and shift a little in his arms.

"Oooh, carrying your Juliet to her bed, eh?" Jax only rolled his eyes, and Zarya was walking away (laughing a little) when Jax realized he didn't know where Raine's quarter's were.

"Zarya?" he called down the hall, careful not to wake Raine.

"Yez?"

"I don't know where her quarters are."

"Me neither. Just take her to yours." Zarya shrugged simply. "Reinhardt has challenged me to an arm wrestling battle in ze Mess Hall- I'll see you later~"

"But-" Jax began, yet the pink-haired Russian and her accent was long gone. Jax only sighed. It seemed a little weird, bringing a girl into your room. _She's gonna kick my ass later._ Jax chuckled at the thought, eventually deciding to make her comfy on the couch in the rec room instead of making the long trek to his room. (He wouldn't have a problem with it either way, what with his strength and all, but he didn't want Raine to be thinking the wrong thing when she woke up in his room.) The blond set her down on the couch in a comfier position than she was, taking the book from her stomach and placing it on the coffee table in front of them. He snatched a dark red blanket, throwing it over Raine and tucking it in a little so she was nice and cozy.

Jax knelt down next to her sleeping body, gently stroking a strand of her hair from her eyes. He smiles at her content breathing, and she showed no sign of awakening anytime soon.

He stood at last, grabbing a different book from the shelf, something called 'Harry Potter,' and lifted Raine's feet, setting them on his lap as he opened the book and began to read.

-/

It wasn't til a few hours later that Raine woke at last. Jax was still reading that same Harry Potter book, and he was already halfway through it. When he first noticed Raine stirring, he paused his reading to see if she was awakening. Sure enough, when she pushed herself up to her elbows, Jax knew she was awake.

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty." He said, and Raine twisted around, looking for whoever had spoken in alarm and then calming when she found it was only Jax.

"Jax. Hey." she grumbled, sitting up properly at last. She stretched and groaned, before flopping back onto the couch, a sigh leaving her lips. Jax only laughs a little and smiles.

"I'm guessing your instructor really pushed you this morning?" He asks, marking his spot and setting the book down.

"I had your grandad today and- excuse my French, but- holy _shit._ " That comment made Jax laugh.

"He can be a bit of a dumbass, but he's continuously pushing people like that. Expect to see more of that soon when you have him, and you better get used to it. I mean, this _is_ Overwatch, is it not?" Jax only shrugged, his arm resting on her shins as his other one propped his head up to look at Raine.

"That's true. I probably should have been expecting workouts that hard to come in the future."

"I try to stay at least a half a step ahead, you know?"

"I see what you mean." After this reply, Raine took a moment to look around. "Where do you think everyone else is at?"

"Probably in the cafeteria or in their quarters. Speaking of which, I wanted to take you to your quarters but I didn't know where they were, and neither did Zarya, who was passing by at the time, so I just stayed in here with you."

"Thanks, for keeping me company. Really." Raine stretched once again and threw the blanket off of her, standing to her feet. She slid her boots on, tying them tight as Jax folded the blanket and put everything back to the way it was. By the time he was done, Raine was waiting at the door. "Let's go find everyone else." Jax only nodded as he followed Raine to the cafeteria, where he said he had last seen most of the agents. Ahead of him, Raine was weaving her hair into a braid so easily that it was like watching a team of people work together, in sync, before Raine messed up and one of the strands went awry, forcing her to redo it again. She got it right the second time around, glancing back at Jax. Jax only smiled up at her. She went first into the cafeteria, and the blond behind her ran a hand through his hair a few times to know it was good before Lena flashed in through a different door. She was dressed in neat yet casual clothes, and Winston followed behind her, Mei in front of him.

"Can I have everyone's attention!" Lena began, but her calls fell silent from the loud cheers of Zarya and Fareeha in an arm-wrestling battle, Reinhardt off to the side cradling his slightly bruised arm while mutter that he needed to hit the gym more. "Guys!" She called out again. Jax saw her trouble, and went over to the table.

"Hey, Zarya, I ended up finding the quarters-"

"Good, Jazz, I'll be right with ya for a chat." she dismissed him, all her concentration back to her battle. Fareeha did the same, just shaking her head and dismissing him. Jax sighed. He was left with one choice.

Using his super-strength (he still hasn't found a better word for that), Jax lifted the table. He grunted a little as he shook it a little, but the two were still deep into their competition. The cheers were silenced now- no one had really seen Jax's strength in action. He was never usually allowed to use it, but Winston, who had given him the order, seemed to let it go. After all, Jax was helping Lena out.

When the two girls didn't notice they were doing it five feet in the air, Jax flipped the table over, making Zarya and Fareeha land on their backs on the hard tile floor of the Mess Hall. That was what it took to get their attention, and they looked at him as a flurry of questions of why he did that, why he stopped their little battle, why he distracted them like that- flew out of their mouths.

"Well, Lena was trying to get your attention, but you both were pretty distracted. So I decided to help her out." Jax said as he set the table down easily, back where it once was.

"Thanks, Jax." Lena said to him, as everyone got into a seat. "Well, we've got our first mission." Some of the former agents cheered, ready to get back on the battlefield, but Lena continued, making them silence themselves. "But it's much unlike anything any of us has ever done before. And it's going to be hard to complete it, considering the Petras Act is still in action."

-/

 **And that's another chapter! I sure hope you all enjoyed this one!**

 **Can y'all guess what's about to happen in the next chapter?**

 **You betcha- we're gonna be introducing Resident Evil 7!**

 **There was one new review, but I replied through the PM, haha.**

 **Not much else to say other than**

 **Thank you all so much for reading and I'll see YOU, in the next chapter…**

 **CIAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!**


	7. Chapter Six

**AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH GREAT TO MEETCHYALL I AM GOMMIE AND WELCOME BACK TO "A SHADOW OF MYSELFFFFFFFFFFFF!"**

 **In the previous chapter, we have Jax become a slight bit salty yet he's still the nice guy we see him as, leaving off with Lena trying to tell the team about their first undercover mission. We're about to find out what, exactly, this mission is all about…**

 **So, uh, this is the part where it gets a little scary and I actually am really excited because I changed up some things...**

 **Here y'all go and enjoy the show!**

-/

Lena still stood where she was on the platform. She looked a little nervously upon them all.

"LIke I said, it'll be a little impossible to complete with the Petras Act still written into law, so we'll have to send out an agent no one knows about."

"So right now, it seems like Raine and Jax are worthy of going on this mission?" Ana asks after pondering over the fact for a few moments. Some of the other agents looked a little uncomfortable with that- sending a rookie out on a mission that not even a policeman has returned from? That was going to be a bit hard to, well, execute. Raine and Jax both only look at each other, but neither said a thing to the other as Winston took over.

"The mission will be in the small town of Dulvey in Louisiana, over in the United States. We must figure out how and why 51 people went missing; 18 police officers and 33 civilians. All their tracks, leads, everything- they lead to a small home in the woods. The owners of the home are the Jeanson family- Martin Jeanson, Juliet Jeanson, Zane Jeanson, Antonina Jeanson, and Ezra Jeanson, they're all inhabitants who may be in on this, but there is no solid evidence. Our job is to figure out what's going on in the Jeanson home and stop it from going any further. People have been reporting some violent findings in the woods around the home, such as a type of black matter, which no scientist has been able to figure out the complete components of." Winston read off of a document that he had made while meeting with the police chief of Dulvey. He did not want to bring up the fact that this mission is dangerous enough to take a life. "I believe Raine could complete this mission. Jax didn't even know of her before they were introduced to each other, and besides, she's had training longer than he has. Perhaps-"

"No, Winston! It's- it's much too early for her to be going on a mission this dangerous-" Lena began protectively, but Raine stood.

"Lena, I can do it." Raine sent her cousin a glare. "Winston, I'll do it." Jax looked up at her in disbelief. This mission was surely to be dangerous if it was a corrupt home even managing to take down police officers. He tried to speak up, but the deed was already done.

"You'll continue training for a few weeks more and then we'll send you in. Thank you, Raine."

"It's my job now, isn't it?" Raine replied, turning back with a small smile, heading off to the hallway to the girls quarters. Lena sighed, flashing over by Jax and plopping into the seat where Raine once was.

"I just hope she'll be okay in that place." Jax told her, looking at Lena. "But I'm confident she'll make it through and through." Lena sent Jax a small smile.

"Thanks, love. I needed that." she nodded, meeting his eyes for a moment before Jax got up. 76 saw him standing and stood as well, going to take the younger one to shooting practice.

"I'll see ya later." Jax bade Lena, who waved before blinking off to the girls' quarters, either after Raine or to change.

-/

"Jax, look down the scope. You aren't looking down the scope." Jax lowered the gun a little at Jack's command. The elder had taken off his mask and set it on a table nearby, close enough to grab it and put it on if someone walked in unexpectedly. Yet, it was assumed that everyone was most likely just going to be in the rec room or in the mess hall until dinner. Jax could tell that some were a little shaken about how many people have been lost to this mysterious Jeanson home. Jax would admit that he himself was a little shaken by it as well- the mission sounded more scary than dangerous. Jax took a deep breath.

 _Stop it. Reset._ Jax let it go. _Now focus, Jax._

Jax raised the gun back up, hitting the targets dead on while looking down the scope.

"That's a lot better!" Jack laughed a little, giving him a small applause. When he did that, Jax would usually give an exaggerated bow, but when Jax didn't, Jack knew there was something going on. "Penny for your thoughts, kiddo?" he asks, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm just really worried for Raine. She's only a rookie, and just- I guess I don't want her to go so easily."

"You like her, don't you?"

"No I don't! I just don't want her getting hurt or worse-"

"Jax, this is what she signed up for- this what you signed up for. So you're going to follow the orders they give you. If it's you that has to go in there after her, then you will go."

"To save the damsel in distress, huh?" Jax sighed, shaking his head. "Can we drop it?" He adds, raising an eyebrow at Jack, who only sighed and nodded.

"Keep going. We'll be done in less than ten minutes if you can take out 500 more." Jax raised the gun again, going to get more ammo to reload when he needed it.

-/

" _Raine, it's time to go." Winston motioned his head towards the entrance of the dropship._

" _Just a minute, Winston, please." Raine told him, holding up a finger. Winston only nodded, seeing she was going to the boys quarters. "I still have to say goodbye to Jax." She glanced behind her to find Winston giving her a knowing smile and only rolled her eyes in response._

 _Jax himself was only just walking out when he nearly ran into Raine. Well, actually he did run into her, but he managed to catch her in time._

" _Ooh, sorry, sorry!" Jax repeated, grabbing her by her biceps to keep her from stumbling backwards. "Are you okay?" he asks, still holding onto her even though the two were both balanced and on both their feet._

" _Yeah, I'm fine." Raine laughs, her own hands having found his elbows. "Actually, uh, I wanted to talk to you." She added, looking up at him. For a moment, she glanced at his lips, licking her own._

" _Oh, what about?"_

" _I'm leaving, actually. For Louisiana, for that mission." She answered. "So I, uh, wanted to say something quickly before I go." Jax paused a little- he had no clue that she was leaving today. He definitely would've passed by to say goodbye._

" _Go ahead, then." Jax looked down at her expectantly. The one thing he didn't expect was for her to wrench one of her arms free, hook her hand around his neck, and pull him down, his own lips meeting hers. She pulled away a few moments later, not feeling much of a reply from Jax._

" _I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that-" Raine began, leaving his grasp and walking away._

 _By the time Jax realized what was happening, she was gone from his sights._

" _No, Raine, wait!" He followed her to the hangar, but the dropship had already gone._

 _She was gone._

-/

"I can't believe it. I just let her go."

Jax was now in the mess hall with most of the other agents who were there. He was telling Lukas about what had happened before Raine left.

"Wait wait wait-" He sputtered out, in shock. "You kissed her?"

"No, she's kissed me. And I didn't even react or anything- by the time I did, she was long gone."

"Ah, kiddo…" Lukas looked at the younger male sympathetically. "She'll make it out, and you'll tell her how you really feel about her."

"But what if she doesn't?" Jax looks at Lukas, who went silent.

"Then you get over it and move on."

Winston had come back a few days ago from dropping off Raine back in Dulvey, and he was now in the Command Center, waiting for another member of the police in the small town to turn the camera online. Everyone else was in the mess hall, both eating dinner and waiting for the camera and microphones to come online.

" _Testing, testing, this is Winston from the Command Center. Raine, do you copy?"_ Winston's voice came through the speakers. There was the sound of fumbling, then a slight static, and Raine's voice came through.

" _I copy, Winston."_

"Keith, Connor, Harry- do you three copy?"

" _I'm here." "Here." "Right here."_ Three more voices came through.

"Okay. Keith, you're getting the camera online, right?"

" _Yeah, I got the camera online. The connector went down, but I'm fixing it. Should be done by the time we get there."_

"Connor, Raine, you have your weapons hidden?"

" _Yeah. I'm in the tux, too. I can't believe that, of all people to act as, we have to act as a low-class haunted house reality show. And I have to be the announcer."_ Connor's voice grumbled through the mic.

" _I'm the happy-go-lucky cameraman."_ Keith snickered, and then a small 'yes!' came through. " _You guys seeing it now?"_ he asks Winston, the camera coming online at last. Sure enough, the first image they had was of Raine, who was waving from her seat next to Keith. Keith then turned the camera to show a dark-haired man with a slight scowl as he eyed the camera behind him from the shotgun seat.

" _You know I hate cameras, Keith."_

" _Shush, Connor, you're the anchor of this whole act, you'll be fine."_ That made Connor roll his eyes with a chuckle as he continued to fidget with his tux a little.

" _I still hate this tux."_

" _Quit being a whiny crybaby, Connor, you're the_ man _of the group, ain'tcha?"_ Keith changed the camera to look up at the guy in the driver's seat of the 'news' van they were in currently. He had light brown hair and a freckles below blue eyes, wearing just a regular t-shirt and jeans. " _I mean, I'm just the weak, wandering director."_

" _So that makes y'all sissies?"_

" _In a way. But keep in mind, we're doing this for Raine's, uh, family."_ Jax felt a slight pang of jealously as Harry turned from the driver's seat to give Raine a small smile that made Hana (who sat a little aways from Jax) swoon. Keith caught the part which Raine was smiling back, and Jax sighs. " _We're almost at our destination."_ Harry added, and Raine looked at the three guys in the truck with her.

" _Note anything you see, okay?"_ Winston tells them, as the road slowly became bumpier, the asphalt turning into dirt. Ahead, there was a house, it's automatic porch light the only light that was on.

" _Not even five seconds and I'm getting creepy as hell vibes from this place."_ Harry stated as he pulled over, turning off the car. " _Best if we start acting now, never know who may be listening or watching."_ He took off his seatbelt and exited the car. Raine and Connor followed, and so did Keith. Connor got out the flashlight as Keith pretended to fiddle with the camera like it wasn't working again. As Keith rose it to test it out, it was suddenly jerked to the side.

" _Boo!"_ Connor exclaimed, before going back to Harry. " _Where did you find this guy?"_

" _Hey, Connor-"_ Raine began to calm down the anchor of the little faux TV show of theirs.

" _Raine, I told you and Harry already, I work with professionals, not whoever he is."_

" _My name is Keith, asshole."_ Keith replied from behind the camera.

" _Give me a break, guys."_ Harry sighs, helping Connor with his tux.

" _Speaking of which, make sure the sound is right this time, I don't want a repeat of Amarillo."_ Connor added, ignoring Keith and Harry.

" _That was two fucking years ago."_ Raine sighs, as Connor took off towards the house, going to the door. Harry motioned the two along and Raine followed, Keith behind her.

" _I don't do ADR."_ Connor added, going on about Keith. " _This new guy? I'm not feeling it."_

" _Again?"_ Harry asks, then sighs.

" _Just don't be surprised if we have to make a change."_ Raine finished, as the three followed Connor to the door. " _Anyways, we have a new plan- walk through the inside first, then shoot the intro. Like we did the last time, and that worked fairly well."_

" _Just try to say the show's name this time, will ya?"_ Keith asked Connor from behind the camera.

" _No problem. 'Tonight on Sewer Gators, another worthless fucking shithole.'"_ Connor turned back to Harry, holding his arms up a little in a shrug. " _Happy?"_

" _Ecstatic."_ The four finally got to the door.

"Is he really supposed to be acting that way? That's a little mean…" Angela wondered, raising her eyebrow slightly.

"He's probably just a bit nervous. I would be too if I were in his place." Lukas shrugged from Jax's other side. Jax's eyes traveled the room, looking for the cousin of the woman in the mission, and he found Lena fidgeting slightly in her seat, even more nervous than Connor could ever be. I mean, she was basically watching her cousin potentially get killed here.

" _Are we rolling?"_ Connor looked back at Keith, who probably nodded behind the camera because Connor turned back to the door, saying, " _Alright, let's go."_ His hand grasped the knob and he attempted to open the door, but it wouldn't budge.

Harry must've gotten a little tired of Connor trying to open the door that he gently shoved the latter to the side (" _Get out of the way."_ ) and tried to open the door himself. Since it still wouldn't open, Connor began to say something (" _It's locked."_ ) but Harry then stepped back and forced it open with a kick.

" _After you."_ Harry rolled his eyes as Connor went right past him and Keith waited until after Raine and Harry went in to trail behind them, making sure to get all the sights and sounds.

" _So, why are we in hell this time?"_ Connor asks, examining the house.

" _Do you ever prep?"_

" _What's there to prep for? Shitty house, spooky sounds…"_ As Connor, Harry, and Raine went ahead a little, Keith turned around (with the camera) and got one last look of the outside.

" _Leave the door open in case you have to make a quick escape."_ Winston's voice came through to Keith, who subtly shook the camera in a nod and turned around to join his friends.

" _Ooh, is it haunted?"_ Connor went on to cover up there ever being Winston speaking. " _Fuck me. I was an anchor, you know."_

" _Weekend sub, Connor. Not an anchor that's landing in my league."_ Harry couldn't help but to let out a laugh at Raine's comment. At Connor's stern glare, Harry immediately stopped. The four moved on through the pretty long hallway of the house.

" _So what's the story, Harry?"_

" _Abandoned farm house, missing family, foul play suspected… The usual."_

Finally, the four came to a decent room, but since Raine, Connor, and Harry were blocking the way into the room, Keith couldn't get in to get a good look at where they had landed.

" _How long did you say this place has been abandoned?"_ Raine asks, looking back up at Harry.

" _Three years."_ At this answer, Lucio let out a whistle. His usual upbeat mood was now not as upbeat as usual. Puns intended. (Author laughs.)

Harry and Connor both entered the room first and Raine followed. Almost as soon as they entered the kitchen, the four of them began to cough.

" _That's a strong stench of death here…"_ Connor muttered so the message could get to Winston. " _Keith, get a shot of this. This'd make a great cutaway."_ He added to cover up what he was trying to tell Winston, motioning to a pot on the kitchen table. Keith made his way over as Connor, Raine, and Harry continue. " _So, uh, Hillbilly Joe and his family go missing-"_ While the three were chatting, Keith opened up the pot that Connor was talking about. Inside was this weird kind of meat which made Angela gasp. She seemed to recognize it.

"That… that's human meat. Decayed, of course, but… that's human meat…" she let out in a small frightened whisper, her hand going over her mouth. Jax nearly threw up after Mercy mentioned that.

" _Not Hillbillies. The Jeansons. Martin and Juliet Jeanson. And they were quiet, not backward."_ Harry continued telling Raine and Connor. Keith listened in as well while examining the oddities of the house. There was stuff strewn all over the place, and even though they were just in the kitchen and dining area, there was so much mud and dirt and other stuff all over the place. For three years without cleaning, this place looks like it's gone a century.

" _Lots of bad rumors about their son, Zane. Bad seed, apparently."_ Raine added on, going off into the hall.

" _Raine, don't go too far from the others."_ Keith called out to her as Harry followed her, yet the cameraman stayed behind with Connor.

" _Not planning to do so, but I feel something's this way."_ Raine pointed into the hallway on the other side, which Harry nodded.

" _I'll follow you."_

" _Thanks, Harry."_ Raine smiled at Harry. " _Stay with me, Potter."_

" _Just because my name's Harry doesn't mean I'm a Potter like in that old story."_ Harry rolled his eyes as Keith traveled the kitchen, looking around.

" _Ah, shit!"_ Connor exclaimed, and Keith directed the camera to him. " _I knew I shouldn't've worn my good shoes!... oh , shit, I'm glad I had my shots…"_ Connor turned around, looking for something else out of the ordinary. " _Say, Keith, this would make a great backdrop. We should film this thing while we can. Come on, Harry-!"_ Suddenly, there was some static coming through, and Winston exclaimed,

" _Connection with Raine and Harry have been lost. I repeat, connection with Raine and Harry have been lost. Keith, Connor, remain calm, and start finding them. They could be anywhere. I'll start trying to reboot their microphones. Find them, but remember, don't seem to suspicious."_ Winston's voice came through, and Jax froze, eyes widening. He looked over to Tracer, who seemed to have started trembling. The blond stood, going over to the brunette and sliding into the seat next to her. No one watched, for their eyes were glued to the screen. Jax slipped his hand into Lena's, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Lena tore her eyes from the screen to meet his, and Jax only gave her a small smile. Lena managed a small one as well and squeezed Jax's hand back, biting her lip as she returned her attention to the screen, Jax's own eyes not far behind.

" _Harry?"_ Connor called into the hall where he had seen both his friend and Raine disappear to. " _Harry?!"_ Connor shone the light into the hall where the two had gone, and groaned. " _Where is he- this is un-fucking-believable."_ Keith followed Connor into another main hallway where there were some stairs and… more walking distance. " _This is the last time I work with that guy."_ Connor stated with a small groan. " _I mean producers, they come and go, but a good cameraman like you, Keith? You stick with me."_ It was clear that Connor was getting a little nervous. If someone managed to take down an Overwatch rookie-cadet and a guy who could take great care of himself… everyone else was doomed, pretty much.

Connor wasn't the only one who was nervous, though.. Everyone else watching weren't too far behind him on that. (Overwatch weren't the only ones watching- there were some of the police officers of Dulvey watching and wondering who could've been so evil as to rob families of their fathers, husbands, wives, mothers, sisters, brothers, so on and so forth.)

Keith looked into a closet which the cupboard under the stairs was boarded up. (If anything, Harry would've probably been in there, but this was too serious of a situation to joke around. Besides- it was boarded up. There was no way Harry would be able to 'jokingly' board it up without making a lot of noise.)

The two came to a stop at a white door that was dirty and decayed slightly. Suddenly, there was a loud noise- something closing. Connor jumped, and Keith stepped back. Connor looked back at Keith, his eyes wide.

" _Did you hear that?"_ Connor asked in a lower voice, looking up at Keith. " _What the fuck was that?"_

" _I don't know, man. We better check it out- maybe it'll lead us to where Raine and Harry went."_ Keith suggested, making Connor nod. Connor reached out and grasped the doorknob, turning it. He opened the door slowly as not to allow anyone through from the other side. The two entered the room, looking for their two friends and finding they had landed themselves in the living room.

" _Come on, Harry, Raine- the hell did you two go?"_ Connor called out once again as he and Keith scouted the room for any signs. When there were none, they made eye contact again and Connor was utterly speechless.

Suddenly, there was a static sound and Raine's voice came back online.

" _I got Raine's microphone back online, but she won't be able to hear us. Listen, she's talking to someone-"_ Winston's voice came in and Connor and Keith continued to scout out the living room to cover up their listening in (because standing still to listen would make them seem too suspicious).

" _Hey, young one.. Are you okay? Is anything hurt?"_ There was a pause from Raine. The other person was too far for them to be able to hear who it was. " _What do you mean, you just want-"_ Suddenly, Raine's scream echoed through the microphone before it went offline for good.

" _Keith, Connor, did you hear that?"_ Winston asked immediately once he knew that Raine's microphone was offline for good.

" _From where we are? No." Keith replied, eyes wide with Connor's._

" _Then there must have been a secret passageway or something. Look under the tables, in the bookcase- the activator could be anything."_ Winston told them, and the two men at the scene went on their merry ways.

"Raine... " Jax heard Lena eek out, and he turned his head to look at her. With a small sigh, Jax gave Lena a sympathetic look, squeezing her hand once more to show that he was still there for her.

" _What the hell?"_ Connor's voice brought them back to the screen. Connor was currently crouched in front of a fireplace. He reached inside, and it seemed like he _pulled_ something.

There was a loud _clank_ noise like gears turning and something opened. Keith immediately turned the camera to whatever had opened, and it was a small, completely undetected passageway that was built into the wall near the fireplace. Connor only sighed.

" _You gotta be fucking kidding me."_ He said blatantly, shining his flashlight into the hole that had opened up. He stepped forward to the door and looked back at Keith. " _Okay, new deal. We get Harry and Raine and then we get the fuck out of here. Fuck this show."_ Connor looked into the camera.

" _We'll need to come back."_ Winston agreed. " _New objective: Find Raine and Harry and get out of there. This mission will be put on-hold until we figure out who or what we're facing here."_ Keith only nodded to which the camera didn't quite catch because he was still behind it. Connor crouched down again and went into the passageway, Keith following close behind.

When Keith was over on the other side, he turned the camera to Connor who had found a hole in the wooden floorboards, a ladder leading downwards.

" _Ho, boy."_ Keith mumbled to himself, making his way over to where Connor was, shining his flashlight down into the hole.

" _You first."_ Connor's offscreen voice made some of the agents in the mess hall jump. " _We'll need a nice hero shot of me going down the ladder."_

"I thought he said 'fuck this show' and go, but hey, I'd probably be a wimp too in his place." Jax heard Lucio say from across the table. Originally, Jax would've smiled, but his worry for Raine became greater with each passing second she wasn't on the screen.

Onscreen, Keith sighed, silently turning himself around and heading down the ladder to what would most likely be doom. But as soon as he turned around, there was Harry, his back turned to the ladder.

" _Harry?"_ Keith asks in a low voice, close to a whisper. The man handling the camera didn't notice, but some of the agents noticed Harry was on his tippy-toes, his head tilted backwards.

" _What do you see? What is it?"_ Connor asked, and Keith looked back up at the guy crouching over the edge now. He hadn't yet come down the ladder.

" _I've found Harry, but there's no sight of Raine anywhere."_ He said. " _Stay up there- I'll get Harry and we'll go. I'm sorry, but we're gonna have to find another way to get Raine."_

"No!" Lena exclaimed before slapping her hand over her mouth, tears brimming into her eyes. "She's the only family I've got left…"

"We'll get her back eventually, I promise you, Lena." Jax told the Brit, and she swallowed her tears for the time being.

Keith turned back around and approached Harry, grabbing his shoulder.

" _Harry, are you-"_

Harry slid off the meat hook he was hanging on and fell to the ground with a thump.

" _The hell was that? I'm coming down, Keith-"_ Connor began, and Keith looked down at Harry and the camera caught sight of him too in the flashlight.

Harry was dead.

His eyes were completely bloodshot and blood no longer poured from his mouth but it sure looked like it once was from the dried blood on his chin and down his cheeks. The sight was horrendous- McCree had seen nasty stuff from being in Blackwatch, but he had to excuse himself to the trashcan to vomit.

New blood streaked from the corners of Harry's eyes and his mouth. Footsteps could be heard from behind Keith, but they definitely weren't Connor's. In fact, they were much heavier.

" _CONNOR GET OUT OF HERE-"_ Keith began to run, stepping over Harry's body to urge his last friend back up the ladder.

" _Welcome to the family, son!"_ A cheerful voice caught Keith's shoulder, forcing him around. The camera had caught a very old man with blood all over him, wearing a white and yellow striped farmer's buttonup before the camera was dropped in shock. Suddenly, Keith's unconscious body down a little ways from where the camera was dropped. Connor's scuttling was heard, but the old man's feet carried him over the camera and Keith, and there were sounds of offscreen scuttling before Connor fell to the ground off the ladder next to Keith. His flashlight was now broken, and the only one remaining on the camera that Keith was filming through was picked up by a young guy with a wicked grin. It wasn't the old man from before, but some of the members could tell it was potentially Zane, the 'bad seed' that Harry was talking about before. Zane looked like he was about Harry's age, and he waved.

" _Bye~!"_ before shutting off the camera.

-/

 **Wow, uh, that was one long chapter. I had more planned, but I needed to stop it here because it was simply getting too long.**

 **Please tell me whether you like it so far or not! Any predictions to other changes I've made in the actual storyline? Will we see Raine one last time? Am I doing fine with the horror thing? Find out in the next chapter, mi amigas!**

 **So sorry for this chapter taking so long! I don't have access to the videos in school, so I have to be at home to be able to do these chapters.**

 **Onto the second chapter of Cube Land!**

 **Thank you all so much for reading and I shall see YOU, in the next chapter…**

 **CIAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!**


	8. Chapter Seven

**GREAT TO MEETCHYALL I AM GOMMIE AND WELCOME BACK TO "A SHADOW OF MYSELFFFFFFFFF!"**

 **Okay, in the previous chapter- Raine and her comrades are now either dead or taken by this mystery murderer, perhaps. Harry's dead, Connor and Keith are unconscious (as far as Overwatch knows) and Raine's disappeared, most likely dead as well. Will Lena have to say goodbye to her last family member (by blood, obviously)? Well, ya better read on to find out!**

 **Sorry this took so long to come out!**

 **Here y'all go and enjoy the show!**

-/

It has been a few hours since Overwatch has had any connection with the four inside the murderous home. Harry was definitely dead, but there was still a possibility that Keith, Connor, and Raine were still alive.

Tracer was definitely trying to hold up all her hopes and positivity that even though one guy was dead, the others could still make it out alive, if not in one piece.

"Well, she could have-" the Brit went off into another little theory of what happened to Raine and the others after Zane turned off the camera. Jax, meanwhile, was completely zoned out. He was hunched over a little, staring straight ahead. If anything, it looked like he glaring daggers at the trashcan, what with his eyebrows scrunched so closely together that they practically formed an unibrow.

"Hey, kid." Jax glanced to his right to find Lukas sliding back into his seat. "How've you been holding up?" Most of the agents have gone for a nap while Winston was attempting to get at least the camera connected again.

"More 'meh' than anything." Jax replied. "I'm tired, but I highly doubt I'll be able to go sleep. That image with Harry…" Jax trailed off, then shuddered.

"Shake it off, kid. You'll be just fine if you have to go in there."

"I may have to anyways." Jax shook his head, looking up at the TV in the mess hall. He pursed his lips. "It's probably gonna take a lot more manpower to take these guys down, right? The original mission may have been to figure what's been happening- well, we kinda have an idea, but it's not the best one yet. But in order for no more people to be taken, we have to take them down." Jax licked his lips, and his eyebrows raised as he came to a realization. "The Jeansons didn't have a criminal record before the first person went missing to the home, right?"

"Hm. I don't know. I'm no expert. Maybe ask Winston?"

"I probably will. He's gonna need a snack anyways. How 'bout bananas?"

"No, peanut butter."

"Peanut butter, gotcha. Thanks, gramps!" Jax got up out of the table and headed into the kitchen.

-/

Jax knocked on the door to the Command Center where Winston currently was.

"Come in!" Winston exclaimed through the door, and Jax grasped the doorknob, twisting it and allowing himself in.

"I, uh, had to ask something. I might be on to something, but, uh.. It's not exactly confirmed."

"Well, ask away. Athena can answer your question for you."

"Yes, Winston. What is it, Jax?"

"Did the Jeanson's have a criminal record before the first person went missing?" Jax asks as he carefully steps over many wires and cords into Winston's general area. In a lower voice, he added, "I got you peanut butter as well, big guy."

"Thank you." Winston nodded his gratitude as Jax set it down by the keyboard while the supercomputer searched the files for what Jax was looking for.

"No. Only Zane Jeanson has been evicted of stealing parts from the Dulvey Junkyard, but since he was good friends with the owner, Reilly Braves, he was let go easily. Otherwise, there was no criminal activity made by the Jeanson's before the time the first person was taken."

"Thanks. You can, uh, go back to whatever you were doing. I'm gonna go talk to Angela real quick. I hope you get the camera and the mic back up soon, Winston. Good luck, guys!" Jax jogged out, careful of the wires on his way.

-/

"Angela!" Jax sprinted down the hall to catch up to her. The Swiss woman just unlocked the door to the infirmary when Jax found her. She was clad in a normal outfit and the usual white lab robe.

"Hey, Jax. Is there something you need?" Her eyes scanned his body (not in that way) for any injuries to the eye.

"No, I just think I'm getting on to something, I just need a few words with you to make sure I'm getting the science and everything right." Jax caught up to her, glancing inside the infirmary. "Let's head on in, I'll tell you inside."

"Okay." Angela nods, and Jax motioned into the infirmary.

"Ladies first." He sent her a small grin.

"Thank you." the doctor giggles, heading into her office with Jax following her. She walked around, organizing things in her office. "So, what was it you wanted to ask me?"

"Okay, we saw how brutally Harry was murdered, right?"

"Yes. It's a shame to see him go that way- he was a good guy in the half hour we knew him."

"The murder thing, the kidnapping- it all got me thinking. Turns out, they didn't have much of a record before the first person was taken. Only that Zane stole some pieces from a junkyard, but the owner let him go without charge or anything." Jax took a deep breath. "I wanted to ask you if possession was possible, yet."

"Hm." Angela's eyebrows came closer together as she thought about it.

"Look at it like this- a virus or a disease. They can take over your body, right?"

"Yes, that part is true." She nodded.

"Would it be advanced enough to _completely_ take over someone's body and mind, nowadays?" Angela paused, taking in what Jax was saying. It made sense, she decided, but there were more factors than just taking over the body.

"It depends what it is, honestly." She answered him. "He looked completely normal, despite all the blood, obviously." She hummed in thought. "It is possible." she decided in the end, nodding. "One question for you, Jax."

"Go ahead." Jax nodded, leaning against her desk.

"Are you sure you're not trying to defend these people?"

"I have never heard of the Jeanson family until the mission was explained by Lena." Jax admitted with sincerity. When she decided he was honest, she nodded.

"Go ahead. Unless you have something else..?"

"No. Thanks, Angela, really." Jax sent the blonde a smile before leaving her office and the infirmary altogether.

"Jax!" He heard someone call from behind him. It was Angela, poking her head out the door.

"Yeah?"

"Don't tell anyone what you've just told me until it's confirmed, okay?"

"No problem, Angela." Jax nodded, sending the angel a small smile before heading back to the mess hall.

-/

It's definitely been some time since Overwatch lost connection with the team in Dulvey. Jax was currently in his room, lying down. He was facing upwards, looking at the ceiling. In all honesty, he couldn't sleep because of the image of Harry placed in his head permanently. Hell, he didn't think anyone could sleep that well that night.

He trusted Angela to find any kind of disease or anything that could have taken over the Jeanson family to make them this way. With how brutally they murdered Harry, who's to say they didn't do the same to the others trapped in the home?

Jax sighs, sitting up. He tossed the covers off of himself and slid out of bed. He pulled on some jeans quickly and threw a tee on as well, pulling a hoodie over his head as he exited his room. He went to the kitchens first, searching for an apple or something to snack on. When he found a good ol/ Granny Smith, he took a bite out of it, heading on to the Command Center. Jax knew that Winston was either still working or sleeping in his large chair.

Just as Jax had suspected… there he was. The large ape was hunched over in his chair, still trying to get the camera back up.

"Hey, Winston." Jax greeted with a small smile. The ape jumped a little, turning around.

"Oh, hello Jax. Did you get the answers you wanted from Angela?"

"Yeah. I couldn't sleep though, so I decided to check up on you. You're gonna need a nice long power nap after all this." Jax joked, poking the big guy's armor as he stood next to him. Even though Winston was seated, he was still taller than Jax.

"I sure will. Athena caught me snoozing off a little, but she's keeping me up right now, which is good, I hope." Jax chuckles at Winston's reply.

"Say, uh, is there anything you need? I'm not likely to go back to sleep any time sooner or later, so…"

"Some peanut butter would be nice."

-/

It was completely morning when Winston finally got the cameras connected again. Jax had gone into the kitchens to make breakfast for everyone since they still didn't have an official chef.

It was just some eggs and bacon with his own little touch in the meal. He was just serving it to the early birds when the mess hall TV came on.

"Attention those who are awake- I have regained connection with the camera!"

Jax practically had to lean over the counter, the food forgotten for the time being.

"Goddamn it, I probably shouldn't have started eating." Jax heard Lucio speak from his spot nearby as he placed his fork back down on the plate to see what was in store.

Keith and Connor were in a different room, both unconscious. Connor was on the ground while Keith was in a chair. Their hands were bound by metallic handcuffs. Not the modern kind, the old-school kind. In front of Keith though, was a camera. Not the camera they were using in their little misadventure- a different one.

It wasn't until a few hours later that Keith woke up. He was struggling a little, and he slowly remembered what was happening at the moment. Keith examined his surroundings a little more closely. Now that Jax saw it a bit better, it seemed like they were in some kind of drawing room. The camera's purpose, they would never know. It was most likely Zane's doing for an experiment or something…

Keith couldn't move though. He was bound to the chair, so he had to wait until Connor woke up to get free.

It wasn't until about a half hour later that Connor woke up. He leant upwards a little, coughing a little and rolling over to stand. When he was on his feet, the brute stumbled over to where Keith was, knocking the camera over in the process. The two traded some words before Connor practically lept forward and caught Keith in a kiss. Connor pulled away only moments later and looked around for something to cut their cuffs.

Jax couldn't help but to smile a little. He didn't know about the two's relationship, but he was happy for them, that the two of them would make it out. It was so far, so good.

The cuffs were rather old, so anything sharp could cut them apart. Over in the corner of the room was a knife that the camera could see, and it wasn't long before Connor found it and made his way back over to Keith. The brute began to cut Keith's bonds quickly.

The knife was dropped, and there must have been someone coming because both Connor and Keith looked at the entrance of the room. Connor picked up speed, grabbing the knife again and cutting faster.

"Raine!" Tracer exclaimed, noticing it was Raine who was coming up behind the two men. "See, I told you she was-" Suddenly, like a flash as fast as her cousin, Raine plunged a knife deep into Connor's back. Keith hunched over, looking like he was stabbed as well but they could all see that he definitely wasn't. It was the sight of his significant other going down that pretty much broke him.

Connor fell on his side, the knife still deep in his back. Raine flicked Connor's blood off of the knife and tossed it in the air, catching it by the tip before flicking her wrist at Keith. Just like that, Keith joined Connor and Harry in a new place.

Suddenly, there was sound.

" _I got the microphones online!"_ Winston exclaimed, making most of the inhabitants of the mess hall jump. There was loud growling coming from the other side of the line before Raine jumped out at the camera, snarling like a dog as she glared right into it.

Her face… oh, god her face… Half of it was black in splotches here and there, her eyes were a very dark black, her teeth were completely stained although they looked fine only a day ago.

And just like that…

" _Overwatch has lost complete contact. I repeat… Overwatch.."_ Winston sighs, before continuing. " _Overwatch has lost all contact, with those in Dulvey house."_ A pause. " _I am truly sorry, Lena."_ A static and some buzz before Winston's microphone went offline, as well as the TV shutting down.

Jax looked over at Lena whose legs were shaking so badly Jax had to speed-walk over and catch her before she fell. He wrapped his arms around her comfortingly, holding her as she sobbed. He mostly held her close to let her know she wasn't alone, but he sighed as he admitted in his mind that he was also scared shitless at the scene he saw before him.

It was, in that moment, Jax knew he was going to get Raine out of there. She was alive, that much was true. Now he was determined more than ever to get her out of there.

Even if it took his own life.

-/

 **Gee goly wee, that's another chapter lol.**

 **I'm tired af but I'm really inspired now, so I'm going to try to get at least a little bit of the next chapter in tonight. So I better go do that.**

 **CIAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!**


	9. Chapter Eight

**Yknow what I'm not even gonna do these A/N's unless they're really important, so until the next time I need y'all to know something… CIAOOOOOOOOOO!**

-/

Jax was up early every morning, using his strength to pretty much break at least seven bags in the weight room before going to shower before breakfast was served by the chef (someone named Milo, I think?).

It wasn't long before Lukas slipped in beside him, dropping his tray onto the table.

"I passed by the girls' dormitories today. Lena was moving out of her room." He sighs, glancing around before taking off his mask.

"I don't blame her. The room holds too many memories."

"You never go into the recreation room anymore."

"It was in there, many months ago, that I realized I really liked her, more than a friend. We did have many memories together in there, like Lena and Raine in their former dorm room." Jax looks down at his meal. "I'm going to bring her back."

"Jax, you saw what they did. You can't possibly-"

"I have an idea of what we're facing. I know, I'm scared too, but someone's gotta take whatever this is, down. And I'm willing to make that sacrifice." Jax looked up at Lukas, who set down his fork rather slowly.

"I'm sorry- I'm not exactly looking forward to losing someone else. Especially not my grandson. I thought I would be the one to outlive you, after all."

Jax gave Jack a small smile.

"Thanks."

-/

"Okay. Satya and I, we decided to meet for a short while to develop stealthier ways of communicating with us here in Overwatch." Angela approached Jax with two small boxes.

"What are they?" Jax asks.

"Have you worn contacts before?"

"Yeah."

"Exactly like those. You just simply have to plop them in. We created a camera extra, extra small that no one would even notice it when looking at you straight in the eye. It won't even hurt or bother you."

"Oh, that's pretty damn useful. I put them in now?"

"Whenever you're ready." Jax nodded, looking around as Angela got something prepared for the other piece.

"Uh, do you have a mirror in here?" Angela jumped a little at Jax's voice, turning around to find him standing from his seat.

"Yes, over in the bathroom." Jax muttered a quick 'thank you' as he made his way into the bathroom that Angela had pointed him to. Quickly, he put in the contacts and walked back out, not quite bothering to look at himself in the reflection like most cliched characters do.

"Done." Jax said, sitting back down.

"No discomfort or pain?"

"Nope. Feel just like regular contacts."

"That's great!" Angela celebrated a little, making Jax laugh. "Winston will activate them when you get into Dulvey. As for the second object… it's an earphone. But I have to stick it far into your ear. Far enough that it doesn't damage anything, but won't fall out when you run." Angela paused. "This may hurt, but I'm going to need to clean out your ear from ear wax to stick the device in properly."

"Alright." Jax nodded, being that good little kid who's just fighting through it for the lollipops.

-/

Jax rubbed at his ear a little as he walked out of the infirmary, taking a right to the dropship. To look like a normal person trying to find his girlfriend at the Dulvey home, he wore dark jeans with sneakers and a white button up tee, rolled at the sleeves to the elbows.

"Wow, Jax! Uh… you look pretty good for someone going into a mission." Jax jumped a little to find Hana who was blushing slightly.

"Hey, Hana. You heard?"Jax asks, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm pretty sure everyone in Overwatch knows by now. They don't like you going in there to get… possessed or whatever like what happened to.. You know…" The Korean gamer trailed off, sighing as she shook her head. "Just please… don't die in there."

"I'll come back, Hana. I'm going to be bringing Raine with me in one way or another- I promise."

Hana stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Jax's waist, making the older guy chuckle.

"Why do you act like I'm dying?"

"Because even though you promised you won't moments before, some part of you will die in there." Hana stated, the words muffled against his chest. "I don't really wanna lose my big brother in there." At the words _big brother_ , Jax realized how much he really meant to Hana. She thought of him as her big brother.

"I won't fall. Not this time around." Jax smiled down at Hana as he returned the hug, patting her on the head. "Look, I'm really sorry, but I really have to go now. The dropship's waiting."

"And so will we for your return." Genji walked up behind Hana, and Hana pulled away. "Let fate smile upon you, Jax." He may have had a mask on, but Jax could tell he was smiling under there.

"Take care of the ladies here, will ya?" Jax asked Genji, going to give the taller cyborg a small pat on the back before jogging down the hall.

-/

"Testing, testing both microphone and cameras. You got me, Winnie?"

" _Don't call me that."_ Winston chuckles on the other end. " _But yes, I have you on the camera and the microphone. Is the earpiece working?"_

"I gotcha loud and clear." Jax nodded, looking around him. He was in a car. It was one of those rather old ones you get cheap from someone's backyard, and it was just passing through some grasslands. There was a river to his right a little, but of course, straight ahead there was a tunnel of trees heading straight into the darkest part of the woods. Not too long after that, there was a tree in the middle of the road. "Well, this seems like the farthest I can go." Jax told himself, setting the car in park and getting out. He climbed on top of the hood of the car and jumped over the tree, leading safely on the other side. "Uh… it's definitely the place."

" _The tracker in your earphone is telling me you are in the right place, so no worries, little guy."_ Jax only smiled at the nickname. Although he was taller than most, he would never beat Winston or Reinhardt or even Roadhog's height.

Jax continued on down the path which kept narrowing until it was a trail. He had to swat some flies out of his face, but otherwise, everything seemed… normal.

He turned an obtuse corner to see a rather large house in the distance.

" _Let me get a closer look at that house."_ Winston stated, and Jax made his way up to the front gates, pushing past bushes and other plants. " _Hmm… it doesn't look quite like the one the first group went through.-"_ A clanging noise was heard to Jax's right, and he looked in that direction, finding nothing but bushes. Jax shook it off, thinking it must just be his head.

He looked back down at the handles, trying to open them, but he then noticed the chains keeping the gate locked.

" _Don't use your super strength. Someone may be watching. We don't want them to know who exactly you are quite yet."_

The blond went to ring the doorbell, but the clanging came back. His eyebrows furrowed, Jax acted like it was his head playing with him again and proceeded to ring the doorbell. Of course, nobody answered.

"I could probably vault over that gate, but I think I'm gonna take this other path instead. See where it leads me and all that." Jax stated to himself, going down the next path instead.

" _There's the van!"_ Winston exclaimed into Jax's ear as Jax came to a small clearing in which there was a white van. Pretty much the same one that the first group had used to get there. The 'brochure' in the backseat confirmed it.

"I was, uh, half expecting to find a dead body in there. Seems like whoever lives here aren't as cruel as we thought." Jax told himself as he examined the brochure. He turned it around, and written in what could only be dried blood was the words "Join Us." Giving a small hum, Jax tossed the brochure back into the van and closed the door. To his left, as he went to continue his path, there was a broken fence section that Jax could crouch down to get through easily. But what was next to broken fence was a nailed wood pallet which read "ACCEPT HIS GIFT."

"We get presents in here?" Jax raised an eyebrow skeptically. He then continued on his way without another word, only having to crouch slightly to get through.

It was after another short-long trek through the woods along the path that Jax found the same man that had just absolutely socked Keith right after his discovery of Harry's death, shortly before he died to Raine.

" _Keep your eye on him, I'm scanning him."_ Winston stated, and Jax's obeyed even though he wanted to hide. " _That was Martin Jeanson, the father of the family."_ When Martin was gone from their sights, Jax followed him. He looked around the spot where Martin once was.

"The guy comes out of a swamp and isn't soaking wet. Creepy." Jax whispered to himself as he continued on down the path. There were some crows pecking at something.

" _Usually where there are crows, there's a dead body. Take a look."_ Jax obeyed, stepping closer. The crows got startled and Jax put his hands up to shield himself as the crows let out loud squawks and flew off to who knows where.

"I can't tell if that's a pair of pants or a dead body of some sorts…" Jax muttered, examining it. Winston scanned it.

" _Athena's telling me it's a dead cow. Has been dead for some time now, which is why it's bending over like that so easily."_

When Jax turns around, there was a huge freaking flesh monument of cow legs in a circle, all of them with their hooves poking outwards like the hands on a clock. Hanging around the small monument was various items, but the old-school music discs were the most common. Smack in the middle was a cow's head. It's surprising that everything wasn't fully decayed quite yet.

"When I see a Christmas wreath of cow legs, I don't really think I'm going to want to go any further." Jax told himself just as he's going to be doing this whole time. Jax got a little closer and saw that the circles weren't even the old kind of musical discs- they were buzz saws.

" _What the hell is wrong with this family?"_ He heard Winston state in a slightly disgusted voice, and in the gorilla's favor, Jax moved on down the path he was going through, crouching under the monument to get to the rest of the path that Martin probably also took back to his home.

On his way, there were some crows lying on the ground. Clearly dead.

" _Athena says those were the same crows you found back at the cow monument."_

"Well, they definitely don't look decomposed or eaten… they _just_ died." Jax muttered to himself, pursing his lips as he stepped around the fallen birds, continuing on the path.

Up ahead, just a little past the birds, was the back of the house.

"Hey.. this place looks a little familiar.." Jax whispered to himself, jumping down the short cliff to the pile of ash..

" _Those were once cow bodies… what's in that bag?"_ On the pile of ash, there was an orange bag. It was definitely just tossed onto the pile after the cows were burnt. Jax went over and knelt down, picking it up.

"Hey, this was probably Antonina's bag. Her driver's license is in here… as well as a VHS tape?" Jax completely forgot about the protocol about not asking Winston questions or anything as he pulled out the driver's license. It was mostly covered in some kind of black goo. Jax mentioned that as well.

" _What? Why would anyone be using VHS tapes nowadays? And the black goo… perhaps we'll find out the solution to that problem later."_ The question went unanswered as Jax continued on his way, taking the purse with him to carry some of his things. He'll have to try to find a backpack somewhere inside this totally humble abode.

Jax turned the corner around the house, looking for any other close when he realized that the house he had stumbled upon has been there before in his mind, endlessly haunting him. It was the one where the first group had investigated before all either going AWOL or dying.

The blond entered the home. It was incredibly dark inside.

The door shut behind Jax, and it was a moment or two before he turned on the light.


	10. Chapter Nine

Sounds here and there, Jax began to navigate the home that the first group had gone through. There were creaks, cracks, everything. It wasn't long before the blond got into the kitchen. Out of pure curiosity, Jax lifted the lid to the pan on the table. If anything, it was just more disgusting, and Jax expressed that by letting out a small sound and whapping the cockroach off of his hand. Jax turned to his right and found some drawers.

" _You can probably find some clues or something in those."_ Winston stated, and Jax nodded, opening the drawer. Inside the first one, there was a picture. Jax picked it up and it was ripped at the corner. On it was a young boy standing at the end of a semi-lit hallway. " _That must be a younger Zane or something… keep looking."_

Jax continued, finding a dead bird inside the microwave and this meaty kind of goo in the refrigerator. It wasn't until he was at the intersection where he could go upstairs or down the hall that he stopped.

" _Upstairs first. See if there's any clues or anything up there."_ Obeying, Jax climbed the steps. He found another VHS tape, but that was it. There was a cord, but Winston had said, " _Go back down- we have to find the place where Harry died and go from there."_ Jax followed, going back down the stairs. He turned and continued down the hallway. Everything was pretty much almost exactly as the first group had seen it. Except for that closet. The closet was boarded up, but it was just completely open now.

It didn't take Jax long to find the door into the living room where he remembered the secret passageway was. The room was definitely different now though… there were more pictures strewn all over.

Jax picked up the first one he found. It was definitely the torso of a woman, but no one he recognized.

" _Athena says that she recognizes the girl as Antonina. Younger Antonina, of course."_ Jax set the picture down, going to the next one. It was definitely Martin, standing in front of a little boy on a bed. The picture looked suspicious, to say the least… Overwatch had seen what Zane looked like before, but this boy… this boy was much younger, and he had darker hair compared to Zane's blond hair. " _None of the missing peoples match the description."_

"Maybe this is what I'm facing. Maybe he's what I'm facing." Jax stated in a whisper, careful not to speak too loud. He put the picture back down and went to explore a little more. Jax stepped back from playing the piano and found the next picture hiding on a chair. It was one of a jail cell.

"Ahh, shit. I got a bad feeling about this one in particular…" Jax shook his head and set the picture back down. He then went over and opened the passageway upon Winston's orders. There was nothing else in the little room, but when he got to the hole where the first group left off… Jax had to take a deep breath. "Here we go." He told himself before beginning down the ladder, getting rid of the purse and just shoving the items he's got into his pocket.

" _We forgot about those VHS tapes, Jax. Go back up."_ Winston's sudden voice made Jax's foot slip. He caught himself on the next one, but just as he was heading back up, the bars he was on broke and he proceeded to fall, hitting the ground pretty hard. Swearing under his breath, Jax decided that he would have to wait until he got to the next TV he saw to do the tape. Remembering where he was, Jax stood and looked around.

" _At least there's not a dead body this time."_ Winston sighed, relieved. " _Go around the corner. It doesn't seem like there's anyone stopping you yet."_

"You had to say the 'y' word." Jax muttered, rolling his eyes. He peeked around the corner and luckily, Martin wasn't there to say 'Welcome to the family.' and sock him in the nose. There was water flooding the rest of the pathway. "I gotta go in, huh."

" _Yeah. It's the only way forward, isn't it?"_

Jax jumped in, trying not to splash loudly. He began his swim around the corner, only having to duck and turn another corner before seeing the exit. He glanced behind him to make sure no one or nothing was following. Suddenly, there was some bubbling to Jax's right, making him jump a little.

"I, uh, don't really want to feel around for what might be under there."

" _Just keep going."_

Jax ducked under something else before something suddenly popped up from under the surface, making Jax jump back. When he resurfaced, it was the body of Harry. Much more decayed and much more disgusting than when they had last seen it, mainly because there was an additional few months of decay.

Proceeding to swim around Harry, Jax made it to the end of that journey and he quickly got out, continuing to wring his shirt out, making it look wrinkled. There were more pictures of people on the wall to the right.

" _Athena says those are some of the missing peoples."_ Winston stated, and Jax nodded, before continuing down the hall. He barely got one step before there was the loud sound of metal clanking, making Jax look around. He went ahead and opened the wooden door cautiously. The blond checked the room for anything out of the ordinary, and the first thing he noticed were some drawings on some planks straight ahead. " _Go check those out."_ Winston told him, and Jax obeyed. He walked down through the small chamber, examining everything else along the way.

"It's in blood." Jax whispered, looking at various pieces of the grand drawing that seemed to look like an eye. "'I'm sorry daddy, I will not be bad anymore.'" He read. "It just repeats to revolve."

It wasn't until Jax was around the corner that something else happened. Winston was the first to speak up at the intersection.

" _That's the jail cell. From the picture you saw back in that living room. There's gotta be more stuff nearby."_ After turning the corner at the end of the hallway, there was a desk. Only a light shone on it. There were some bolt cutters and a piece of paper. Jax picked up the piece of paper first.

"Ben, dead. Harold, turned. Aurthur, turned. Tamara, turned… Keith, L? What does L mean?"

" _He may be alive!"_ Winston told him. Jax's eyebrows raised. He turned the paper over. The first name…

"Raine.. It's blank for her. No 'dead,' no 'turned…' but no 'L' either."

" _At least she's not dead, mi amigo."_ A new voice came in.

" _Athena, locate the hacker!"_

" _Relax, I'm not here to harm. I'm just here for the show."_ The new voice, a feminine one, laughed a little. " _We know what the enemy's capable of. It's the Supo-Weapon TALON wanted, but he ran off."_

"Winston, let her stay, she knows this stuff. I don't plan on dying in here. Woman, you better be truthful. I have some family I'd like to get back to." Jax spoke in a low voice rather quickly.

" _That's what everyone says, mi hermano. Keep going, you'll find this Supo-Weapon eventually. No military can even take him down- only you can if you get there fast enough with the right ingredients. I believe Antonina knows."_

" _What would she know?"_

" _The serum to kill the Supo-Weapon for good, of course. Find her, and you find the Supo-Weapon's death serum. Enough chatter, keep going, mi hermano."_

Jax turned around, looking into the jail cell. There was a woman lying in there… she looked so much like…

"Raine!" he exclaimed softly, going to the doors of the cell. He quickly cut the chains with the bolt cutters and continued into the cell. "Her shoulder's warm." He told Winston, proceeding to shake her gently before turning her over. "Raine, oh thank God I found you. It's me, Jax." Jax whispered, and Raine sat up on the bed, still a little dizzy from her slumber. But as soon as Jax said his name, she was awake.

"Jax? Jax!"

"Are you alright?"

"You shouldn't be here." Raine told him, fear evident in her eyes. "Did anyone see you? Did _he_ see you?"

"What do you mean, Martin-"

"Daddy's coming, we need to go!" Raine told him, grabbing his hand and leading Jax out of the cell.

"You know what going on around here?" Jax asked in a hushed whisper, looking down at her.

"Yes, and it's pure hell. We- have- to- go." Raine stated.

" _Lena says to listen to Raine- she's never seen her cousin this scared about something before."_ Winston advised Jax.

" _Wait, you can't leave the place yet! You've got to take out the_ hermano _who took nearly four dozen people."_ The new woman said, but Jax ignored her, proceeding to ask

"What did they do to you?"

"I'll tell you everything when we get out." Raine told Jax, peeking around a corner as the two moved on down a hall. They entered some kind of surgical room in which there was a lot of blood and chains. The weirdest part was… there was something in the corner. It looked like it was pulsating, and Jax backed away. "I think it's this way." Jax looked back up at Raine. "The family used to bring me food through here. I remember."

"The family? These people have been taking care of you all this time?"

" _Sί, hermano, they are possessed by the Supo-Weapon. That's how he's known as a Supo-Weapon."_ Pause. Then a sigh. " _Señor Reaper says to call him Erza, his 'proper name.' A monster doesn't need a proper name."_

Jax and Raine continued on through the room. The duo began to shimmy through the obstacle which was just some shelves. Jax continued to followed Raine, glancing behind them every so often to see if anyone was following them.

"There, it's there!" Raine gasped, wagging her finger at a doorway around the corner. She took a deep breath, looking back at Jax. "This is it." She opened the door, and it only led into some kind of living room. There was no exit doorway. "I remember this room." Jax looked down at Raine, who had spoken again. "There's another door here. I'm sure of it."

Jax got a glance into the other room, a smaller one across from the couch. He was just noticing the doll of a little boy when Rain began to panic a little.

"It's not here.. It's gone. It's gone!" Raine sighs, running a hand through her hair. "There was another door here… I'm sure of it." she said, going to sulk on the couch.

"You're in really bad shape, Raine.. I'll find us our way out." Jax knelt down next to Raine for a moment. "Lena misses you like crazy. She just wants you home."

"I miss her.. So, so much. I'm afraid we'll never get back to them…"

"I promise you, we will. I won't allow anything to stand in our way." Jax stood back up, allowing Raine to rest a little. "Maybe this other room has a clue as to where that door is…" Jax muttered to himself, heading into the small room. He caught a picture on the tray by the doorway and picked it up. "E-001…"

" _That's the original name of Erza after he was made into the Supo-Weapon."_ Jax turned the picture over. " _But why is there un abuelo doing on there? He's a little boy!"_

" _Is there any chance this little boy could have grown over the years?"_ Winston questions the visitor.

" _Sí, but not_ that _old! Only about quince!"_

Jax let go of the picture, setting it down before going into the smaller room. He saw the boy doll clearly, but what freaked him out was that the girl doll on the floor resembled Raine.

" _Erza liked dolls. That boy one on the shelf- TALON gave that to him to play with while he was being kept in the cells. I'm confident Erza is the villain here."_

"No- no, leave me alone!" Jax heard Raine cry out, and when he looked past the shelf… she was gone.

" _Where the hell did she go?"_ Jax heard Winston ask. " _You gotta find her again!"_

"Raine!" Jax whispered, looking around the room. Instead of the woman he was hoping to see, he saw the exact doorway she was looking for before. "Well, whaddaya know, there it is." He mumbled to himself, going into the room.

It was rather small. There was only just stairs around the corner and that was it. Jax climbed up the stairs carefully, although some of the steps creaked under his weight.

Up ahead, when he was only halfway up… the door opened mysteriously. Jax let it go, getting to the top. He had landed in a barren hallway.. There was only a telephone.

"I don't remember it raining… or being dark. Has it really been _all day?_ "

" _No, you were only in there for a few hours. The sun should still be out."_ Winston replied, and he nodded.

When Jax turned around, the door had closed on him.

"Did that just close on me?"

" _Yes."_ Jax rolled his eyes. It was a rhetorical question, but Jax let it go as he continued on his way. He opened the drawer of a piece of furniture in the hallway and found a…

"Guest house map? This is only just the guest house?" Jax asked, raising an eyebrow.

" _Seem like it."_ Jax checked out the map.

" _You're still in the same place you were in when you first got there, mi amigo."_ Jax put away the map and entered the bathroom, whose door was just wide open.

"Is it just a coincidence that the bathroom door is just wide open?" Jax asks, raising an eyebrow. He cautiously made his way into the bathroom, only finding some first aid meds. "Also, when someone hands you a first aid med, you just know something's gonna happen…" Jax trailed off as there was banging on the walls. Jax walked back out into the hall and a loud _thud_ resonated from the stairway he had come from. Jax cautiously made his way to the stairway and whoever or whatever was on the other side of the door suddenly began to knock. The sound of metal scratching against concrete cut off the knocking, and Jax finally "answered" the door.

He receded down the stairs for only a few steps when Raine suddenly began to crawl up.

"Raine-"

" _Don't do it-"_ The female exclaimed, but she was too late as the lights had gone out for a moment. They were back only to have Raine _screaming_ in Jax's face, making Jax have to backtrack. Her face was the same ugly way it was when she was screaming into the camera a few months ago and her neck twitched, and it was with just one arm that she had lifted Jax and tossed him back up the stairs and into the wall. Jax got up only to find Raine in front of him again, and the two began to wrestle on the ground. Raine had a knife, and it was clear she was trying to kill Jax from the way she kept _stabbing it towards him-_

Jax grunted as the knife only cut his wrist and he continued to push the knife away. It wasn't until the point that the knife went through his hand completely that he had managed to throw her off and back away from him.

" _Jax, you have to find a way to knock her unconscious! She's out of control-"_

Winston didn't have the time to finish his statement as Raine wouldn't give up. She practically pushed Jax along the hall, making him retreat further and further. He continued to dodge the attacks, but refused to return any as this was _Raine_ he was fighting here.

Jax hand his hand grasped around the blade of the knife now, keeping it from being impaled into his skull.

"She's-" Jax grunted. "She's too strong, even if I use them!"

" _Impossible. No one can be stronger than you, Jax-"_

"Exactly!" Jax grunted, and Raine suddenly let go, panting heaving. Jax looked down at his hand as he had also dropped the knife. There was a large cut from the stab wound, another one across his hand front grasping the blade. Her face was no longer messed up but instead, back to normal.

"I.. I can hear him…" she whimpered, her hands close to caressing her head, but she slowly raised her voice. "I can _feel_ him clawing his way back inside of me-" she brought in an unsteady breath. "Get, out!" Raine weakly threw herself at the wall. "Leave, me, alone!" she yelled out, throwing herself against the wall again, this time much harder than before. "I've been bad… I deserve this…" she said these last two phrases before throwing her head against the wall one last time- this time so hard to the point that some blood had appeared and she was unconscious, falling backwards onto the ground. Jax finally stood, and he couldn't stop the next words coming out of his mouth.

"What the fuck are you, Raine…"

" _Use the meds you found. Angela said they should help, but you'll be needing bandages-"_

"I'm quick-heal, remember?" Jax said, looking down at his hand. In the few moments that Raine was throwing herself against the wall, his hand was already healing itself. "The meds should finish the job, though... " Jax poured some of the juice onto his hand, and although still a bit bloody, his hand no longer had the large cut and stab wound. Jax looked down at Raine. "Lena, if it comes to it… I'm sorry." Jax stated as he backed away, keeping his eye on Raine. He went to the door nearest the bathroom and- still locked.

In an attempt to skirt around Raine to try going back the other way, Jax was stopped when Raine suddenly freaking _levitated_. The ugly face had returned and she took his hand.

"Leave me!" she exclaimed, before lifting his shirt and throwing him _through the wall._

Jax only got up onto his elbows while Raine grabbed a large splinter of wood from the hole in the wall she had formed.

"Go!" Raine exclaimed again, holding the splinter up as her weapon. Jax rolled over to find a small axe easily, and he raised it up as his weapon.

"I- I'm really sorry, Lena-" Jax began, but then dodged out of the way.

"You shouldn't have come, Jax. Now you have to be dead too!"

The next short battle commenced, Jax having to keep her off of him constantly by punching her across the jaw with the butt of the axe. Raine suddenly took the blond off guard, stabbing his shoulder. Jax groaned out in pain, but ignored it as he raised the small axe above his head and brought it down on her collarbone area _hard._

Suddenly, the woman was back to normal and Jax's hand trembled as he let go of the axe. Raine reached out to Jax in an attempt to ask for help when she fell, but she fell anyways, landing on her side. Jax brought in a shaky breath. His first "kill" wasn't exactly how he wanted it to go.


	11. Chapter Ten

Raine's blood continued to pour onto the carpet, and Jax stood there for another moment of silence before the phone in the hallway began to ring.

" _Answer that. It might be someone else with some sanity left in them, unlike tu amiga."_

Jax followed the female's orders, and picked up the phone, raising it to his ear.

"You really shouldn't have come here." a woman's voice resonated through the device.

"Antonina? What the fuck is going on?"

"There should be a way out through the attic." She hesitated, then said, "Go there- now." The line cut on her end, and Jax slowly put the phone back.

"Okay, thank you that was very helpful in my current situation-"

" _We never even checked the upstairs during both this mission and the last one. Perhaps what Nina said is true."_ Winston suggested, and Jax nodded, going towards the wooden door nearest the bathroom again.

Thuds came from Jax's right and he backed away slowly again. Jax noticed that the door to the basement was locked, so the only way out would be through the wooden door on the other end.

As he passed by the hole, Jax peeked in. He had to do a double take- Raine was no longer lying on the ground as she once was. He entered the small room to investigate.

" _Anyone under Erza's control cannot die. They are forever immortal, thanks to the disease he carries."_ The female hacker continued as Jax came closer. There was the puddle of blood and the axe… but there was no Raine.

"So she's still alive somehow?"

" _Sí, señor."_ Jax sighs at the answer, bending down to at least grab the axe.

"I guess I don't have to worry about her actually being dead." Jax shook his head, exiting the room. He checked out the bathroom to find no one or nothing inside, but when he exited, there were bloody handprints on the wall and the door that was once locked was now unlocked and swinging wide open. It led back into the original guest house where Jax started out at. He raised an eyebrow, taking out the map. "It looks like this hallway is just kind of a secret one. There's the hidden passage right there." Jax pointed to a particular area that was the little room with the hidden passage that led into the basement. "So there's the TV in that living room- I can watch both VHS tapes in there."

" _If Raine's still up and about even after you supposedly killed her, I don't think wandering and watching old shows is gonna be such a good idea. Perhaps wait until the next time."_

" _No, Jax, watch them while you can. You never know whether there may never be another TV in this place."_ Winston advised, and Jax pursed his lips.

"Let's watch these footages real quick, okay? Maybe I can find something useful in these as to what exactly is going on around here and what I'm facing and all that fancy jazz." Jax told the two, going back to the living room. Since the tapes were in Antonina's purse that Jax had abandoned back at the entrance of the hidden passageway, he had to go there to get them.

After retrieving the films, Jax read them each aloud.

"Delrict House Footage- Rehearsal… maybe this is the one from that van I saw out there?" He asked himself, putting it in.

Just by the first part with Connor turning the camera towards him and saying "Boo!" Jax could tell that this was definitely the people from the first mission. He shook his head, exiting out of the footage and sliding in the other one.

"A Shadow Of Myself. Maybe this is a song, or something?" Jax raised an eyebrow before putting in the film.

On the TV appeared a female with pretty short hair, a pixiecut, and a blond male.

" _Athena recognizes the teens as Antonina and Zane- possibly before the little outbreak in their home."_

"Zane, are you… are you okay now?"

"Yeah, Nina, I- I'm fine." Zane sighed. The camera was perched on the shelf of the boy's room. He was looking down at his hands in which they were turning black at the veins. He was infected. "You do realize we don't have that much of time before Erza takes over completely, right?"

"Yeah. Seems like you're a little farther along than I am." Nina motions down to the boy's hands and Zane looked back down at them again.

"This sickness I'm afflicted with…

has got my brain decaying.." Zane slowly began. "You remember that song? The one Mum used to sing with that tale of the Molded?"

"Yeah. I always believed that the tale was just, you know, a tale. Seems like the little Prince is real, huh?" Antonina weakly chuckled at the thought of her parents. "It's too bad they're both too far gone now…" She sighed, looking back up at Zane. "Addicted to its wickedness…

this dangerous game I'm playing…"

"I know my God has damned me…

my fate remains unmolded…"

"Guess it runs in the family…

my sense of self, corroded-"

"Rage and hatred, untethered,

heads and appendages severed,

I can't be saved by confession,

endure this torture forever-"

"This aimless anger will fester,

and pain will make me remember,

on the edge of life and death

and I ain't getting better…"

"Lungs filled up with sweat and mud…

Unclean, deceased body wet with blood…

When it comes to carnage I can't get enough…

Ever since mum and dad force-fed me some!" Zane finished off and the two teens took turns.

"Way past saving, can't be helped,

I'm just a shadow of myself,

Let your darkness cascade over me, take over me…

Make me evil, feed me hell…

I'm a shadow of myself,

Swallow my soul, take control of me…"

Zane started the next verse.

"Hold your Holy Bibles tight,

You're sinking in this swamp (swamp)

There's no key to your survival

That's a door that's locked (locked)

Dissected head to toe

You'll be opened up (up)

The only friend you'll get to know is a loaded gun! (gun!)"

"My blackened blood is boilin'

I feel my fear no more...

The scent of dead flesh spoilin'

Have I become a corpse?

Spiders climb up my spine

Feel their venom in my veins..

This torment is divine,

The reaper I'll embrace~!"

"When I'm made a god (god)

I will take a bow (bow)

Evil forged a bond (bond)

She won't break her vows (vows)

Now you know the price (price)

Gotta pay it now (now)

If you have a life (life)

Time to lay it down (down!)

Hear not the voice of reason…

It only tells you lies…

Obey your sins and demons…

Then see through evil's eyes!"

The siblings came back together once again.

"Way past saving, can't be helped,

I'm just a shadow of myself,

Let your darkness cascade over me, take over me…

Make me evil, feed me hell…

I'm a shadow of myself,

Swallow my soul, take control of me…"

"Blood is in the air

My tongue can taste the gore

Smell it on my breath

The flavor I've been craving for.." Antonina looked at Zane, nodding at him to do what was usually their father's part.

"What's the matter, what's happenin'?

I've been served up a platter of pathogens

Trapped within a macabre massacre

By a family of sadistic savages

Ain't seen a chainsaw yet

But I will by the end, I'll bet

I can sense the presence of Evil

Settled deep in this Residence

I've already been through shit

And still haven't seen how bad it gets

Crashin' their party, bash in their heads

Pick up a weapon and splatter the rest

This violence has me laughin'

After makin' a massive mess

I guess I'm past the point of saving

I'd rather end up dead!"

"Give in to your temptation

Transcend mortality~!"

Why let yourself be bound by

Mortal morality~!"

Together, for what probably was the last time in forever, as Zane's hands were completely black, now.

"Way past saving, can't be helped,

I'm just a shadow of myself,

Let your darkness cascade over me, take over me…

Make me evil, feed me hell…

I'm a shadow of myself,

Swallow my soul, take control of me…

Evil molded me…"

Jax blinked after the footage just went off.

"So I was right, it was a song. But how would the mum know about Erza?"

" _Juliet Jeanson was originally a scientist for TALON back in the day. She quit because she had met Martin and the two were planning on having a family. She left her work behind and the other scientists continued where she left off."_ The female hacker explained. " _So there you have it, mi hermano."_

" _My question is why would she make up a bedtime story about it?"_

" _She was pregnant. That's why she left TALON and married Martin- so the baby would be born to a married couple and not just boyfriend-girlfriend. And that baby was Zane."_

"That makes sense, but what about Antonina? She told me to get out of here, and the only way out would be through the attic." Jax wandered over to the fusebox. "So maybe we have to find the missing fuse here to get up into the attic." Jax pointed into the fusebox, showing where the third fuse was missing.

" _There was a chained closet in the hallway you entered the kitchen from. Maybe you can use the boltcutters you found by the jail cell to open the door to that cupboard. Maybe the fuse and other useful things are in there…"_ Winston pointed out, and Jax nodded, going to the kitchen. He glanced up the stairs (in absolutely no hopes to find crazy Raine) on his way, and proceeded to the other side of the kitchen.

Jax took out the boltcutters and the chain dropped to the ground after he cut them. He opened the cupboard and right there was the stair fuse.

"What whaddaya know." Jax chuckles, looking down at the fuse. He pocketed it and went on back into the kitchen. He stopped suddenly.

Raine was right there, limping along down the hall. Jax's eyebrows furrowed, and shortly after she disappeared behind the doorway, Jax followed. She was nowhere to be found- no tracks or anything.

"Wandering around with a neck wound… yeah, totally normal."

" _What about this house, so far, was normal?"_

"Good point."

The light switched from red to green when Jax inserted the stair fuse into the fusebox.

On his way to the top floor to activate the stairs, a normal Raine suddenly popped out from the closet under the stairs.

"Jax!" Raine was panting heavily. "It's okay, it's okay.. It's me. I know you didn't mean to hurt me." The wound was there. It was definitely no longer bleeding, but it was there. Suddenly, she shoved him against the wall, her face contorting into that of one being taken over. "But you shouldn't have done that!" she screamed into his face, before throwing him to the ground, half his body hunched up against that wall. Jax grunted, making Raine exclaim, "It _fucking_ hurt!" in his face again before she grabbed his arm and raised it. A screwdriver was shoved through his hand, lodging his hand in place. The screwdriver keeping him in place, Raine stood and hobbled off. Jax took the time to attempt to take out the screwdriver, but it was definitely lodged in there a little too far. She bent down by the foot of the stairs before standing and going to where he was again, still trapped. This time, she was holding a running chainsaw.

Jax channeled in his super-strength, and managed to free himself but only just as Raine brought the chainsaw down on him. Upon pure instincts, Jax raised an arm and just like that, the chainsaw cut through it. His left hand now lied on this ground and his arm was spouting blood.

Raine raised Jax again and tossed him backwards easily like Jax would have done to anyone. Jax looked down at his arm and pressed a hand to what would be the stump now. Raine laughed before turning and walking off into the darkness. The blond, struggling to get up, eventually stood and made his way up the stairs groggily. He was still losing blood as every second passed by.

Holding his arm out in front of him, Jax checked the kitchen and there was no sight of Raine before going up the stairs. He pressed the button for more stairs, and from the ceiling protruded, well… more stairs.

Jax made his way up and almost immediately did he spot the door to his right. He entered the room and there was ammo plus a gun just resting on the table.

The blond turned and continued down the hallway, the gun in his hand. He made sure it was loaded before moving on.

In the new room, there was just one mannequin to his right, but he spotted some more ammo and picked that up before turning back around to find another mannequin standing there.

"Is it just me or was there only one?"

" _Jax-"_ It was a new voice on Winston's end. " _It's your grandad. Winston's uh… in the bathroom, throwing up. So I'm taking over until he gets back. Anyways, no. There was definitely one before."_

"Thanks." Jax rolls his eyes. Normally, Lukas would have scolded him, but this was too much of a situation.

" _Try that door at the other end of the room. Maybe there's something in there."_ Lukas suggested, making Jax nod and follow his instruction. There was only ammo on the table in the room, and Jax decided to head up the ladder.

"This must be the exit Nina was talking about." Jax huffed out, beginning up the ladder. There was a sound on the other side of the window and Jax looked up to find the chainsaw having returned and Raine was _stabbing it through the window._

Jax immediately went back down the ladder, pulling out the gun. He made some distance before unloading a clip at Raine while she just swung the chainsaw around, yelling a lot of things that were drowned out over the sound of gunshots and the chainsaw going. Even with all the headshots though, Raine still wasn't going down. Jax escaped out into the long L hallway and reloaded. He was a little slow reloading, though, since he only had one hand to do it with.

He had unleashed two more clips on her and Jax was retreated to the very end. The staircase that would have led back down into the home was brought back up, so there was no way for Jax to escape Raine's wrath for what was probably the five-thousandth time.

Jax got into a stand and raised the gun. There was another full clip of all just headshots from afar, and Raine fell to her knees finally, dropping the chainsaw in the process. She fell forwards, limp on the ground as Jax had killed her for the second time. Blood pooled around her again and it was that time Jax realized that she probably won't stay dead for long.

Sadly, on his way back out to the attic window, Jax was stopped suddenly. He was forced around and there Martin Jeanson was in his yellow-white striped shirt old-man glory, raising his fist and saying words that were familiar more than ever.

" _Welcome to the family, son."_

Jax was socked across the face, and he fell backwards onto the ground, his last sights on the still-bleeding Raine before looking up to find Martin raising his foot. He stomped on Jax's face, knocking him out completely.


End file.
